


Yugioh Crossover - Pending Title

by ZephyrWindSpirit



Category: Higashi no Eden | Eden of the East, Jurassic World (2015), Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu-Gi-Oh! Series, crossover - Fandom
Genre: Crossovers & Fandom Fusions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-07
Updated: 2017-02-26
Packaged: 2018-08-29 14:14:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 31,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8492926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZephyrWindSpirit/pseuds/ZephyrWindSpirit
Summary: You know those plot ideas that you get after seeing a show or hearing a song? Well, this is one of them that sparked after Eden of the East. Don’t ask me why, but it turned into a mostly Yugioh fanfiction. Well, on with the show. I enjoy hearing feedback, and constructive criticism. This is my first Archive work. 
I hope you like Dinosaurs.





	1. Breakups and Bravery

Disclaimer: I don’t own Yu-gi-oh, Eden of the East, Jurassic Park, Frankenweenie, etc...

* * *

 

Not quite the normal start to a day in the busy city. Commuters driving, taking taxis, walking to work. The roads jam packed with various sizes and models of gasoline powered vehicles. Various people walking up and down the sidewalks, headed for various locations. The same appears true for one such individual. 

Hazelnut brown hair with blonde highlights, shaggy ear length cut, green eyes, 4’9”, green private school uniform (jacket, navy tie, green slacks, brown loafers), Torn collar on the left side, gold hoop earrings. 

Just approaching her 18th birthday, the school girl made her way down the busy street from the studio apartment she and her family called home. It wasn’t big, but enough for a decent salary that her parents made. Another Monday, and no real changes in the curriculum. She didn’t truly enjoy the subject of Science and Survival. The professor seemed a bit… well, odd. Always believing the ideas of zombies and the occult. Of a ‘zombie apocalypse’.

“Z! Hey Z! Wait up!” Disturbed from her inner sanctum of private thoughts, the girl in question turned around. Two attractive ‘Cali Style’ girls jogged up to her, both dressed in school uniforms, but pressing the dress code heavily. One was blond curly Q’s, the other had platinum blond locks flowing down her back, twisted into a rather elaborate fishbone plait. They managed to somehow defy gravity with their bust to waist ratio (big bust, tiny waist). 

“You know how much I hate that nickname Daisy.” Z grumbled to her audibly once they reached her. Daisy laughed, patting her on the head. 

“Lighten up girl. It's like totally you!” she giggled, grinning ear to ear. If 18 year olds could take modeling careers, Daisy would have been flagged down by most agencies in the city. “Right Pauna?” Pauna nodded her approval.

“Nicknames like show how much friends like care for you.” she agreed. Pauna endeared the phrase ‘ugly duckling to beautiful swan’ to a T. She however, got down to business, leaning on Z’s shoulder with a big white grin. “So you know we’re like besties right? Besties forevers?” Z groaned, hiding a smile. 

“Yeah…” she had a hunch on what was coming.

“Can we like copy your science notes? I can’t write fast, it like ruins my mani.” Z couldn’t help but cringe inwardly at her friends’ speech mannerisms. The excessive usage of the word ‘like’ made her want to drag her own plain fingernails down the nearest concrete wall. Daisy planted herself in front of Z’s path, clapping hands together and dipping her head. “Pretty please with sugar on top? I’ll like pay for your hair care forevers…”

“Only as long as your daddy ignores the usage of his credit card.” Pauna teased, her contacted green eyes glinting brightly with mischief. 

“What Daddy doesn’t know won’t hurt him. It's not that much anyways…” Daisy pouted, twisting a lock of platinum around her finger. “So can you help us Z? Please? We need the notes for like studying for the test this week. I don’t wanna like fail…” 

Running a hand through her messy hair, Z sighed. In her inner circle, it was a known fact that since childhood, her hair had been completely unmanageable. One drop of water would frizz it for days. However, once she became a teen, Z had discovered that distilled water in quantity for washing her hair was the only way of taming her mane to participate in everyday life. Hence, the messy cut for normal. The highlights were a nice look though. Thing was, distilled water in quantity only came bottled, and bottled water had an all time higher expense. The plastic companies were sued a few years back when an explorer died on the plastic island floating around in the ocean of some cause she didn’t know. Distilled bottled water’s price had risen high enough to attempt to deter consumers buying it and to find another source of bottled water. Thus, this argument usually could twist her arm if someone offered to pay for that case of water that it took to wash her hair constantly. 

“Sorry girls. I don’t have any science notes.” she explained. Poking her fingers lightly into her ears, she endured the high pitched ‘Whaaaaat?’ that issued from both of her friends. “The notes are essentially what’s in the book. I read the book.” 

“Ew, reading’s like for nerds. I like ruin my nail job reading a book.” Daisy wrinkled her nose, disgusted with the idea of actually reading the book. “Makes a good spot to like give myself a nice french mani in the middle of class though.” Z’s gaze lingered on Pauna briefly. 

“Don’t tell me, ruin your nail job too?” she asked, giving the blonde a ‘I know what you have done every summer’ look. Pauna’s eyes briefly scanned side to side before she whispered. 

“I keep like losing my reading glasses.” One eyebrow quirked at the odd reason. “My contacts ain’t like the right prescription and I didn’t like buy new ones yet.” Pauna needed glasses since she was a child, having inherited the gene for cataracts. After expensive surgery to restore her vision, she was forced to wear thick bifocal glasses for her childhood, enduring ridicule and teasing. Once she could afford prescription contacts though, it really helped her confidence, but she still needed a stylish pair of reading glasses for close up reading. 

“Read the book girls. Only thing I can tell you. The tests are right out of the book too.” Z explained. “Pauna, I know you can afford those contacts, what did you buy?” Her friend looked at her overly polished loafers briefly before muttering something. “Excuse me, did I hear implants? You’re too young for implants!” 

“Everyone like does it Z! They get implants so they like score all the guys.” So thats why they had ditched her for three coffee meets in a row, and why suddenly none of their shirts fit right. Z pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. 

“No means no. Speaking of which, wasn’t there a test coming up soon?” 

“Akira would know, he like keeps track of everything. No like need for a calendar or a like tablet. AKIRAPOO!!!!” Daisy had stopped beside a tall apartment building, dialing a number with quick clawed nails before screeching a beloved nickname into the phone on speaker. “WAKEY WAKEY MY DARLING!” Z and Pauna looked up, hearing an audible bump, then shifting around through the speaker. 

“Loud.” a scratchy male voice spoke from the phone’s tiny speaker. “Very loud.” 

“Akirapoo! It's like time for school! Come like walk with us!” Daisy gushed into the phone. Silence on the other end before a muffled “Fine… give me ten minutes, and I’ll be down. Love you…” the click of the other end hanging up could be heard before the platinum blonde finished gushing goodbyes and ‘I’ll be waiting’ into the phone. Daisy tutted the phone. “He hung up on me!” 

“Surprised you could hear that over all the goodbyes.” Z pointed out. She didn’t approve of the long sappy goodbyes that couples gave each other. Pauna nodded her agreement. She turned her head away slightly when Daisy wailed that ‘He like NEVER hangs up on a call before I say goodbye to him’. “Calm down Daisy. You did wake the poor man out of a sound sleep though.” 

Soon enough, the door closed beside them as Akira Takizawa joined them at a slower pace of half-asleepness. School regulation forced him to break away from his favorite military grade forest green jean jacket and wear what everyone else wore to school. Black straight hair that fell around his face, gray eyes and a good natured face basically completed Akira. Daisy immediately clung to his arm and pecked him on the cheek, leaving a large lipstick smear. “Good morning my darling! Please walk with us!” Hanging his briefcase over his shoulder, Akira nodded, eyes still clouded from sleep. Daisy’s screech of happiness made all of them cringe. 

“Late night at work again?” Z asked her classmate who didn’t seem keen to hold hands with his girlfriend. 

“Playing games with Saki over the internet and lost track of time.” he answered, stifling a yawn. “You girls getting coffee?” 

“We plan to. Is Saki doing well?” Akira nodded an affirmative to the question before Daisy planted herself before him, impeding her boyfriend’s path. 

“Who is this Saki? Are you two timing me Mr?” she asked, both fists on her hips with a glare. 

“She’s my cousin.” Akira replied, his tone cold. “I don’t two time.” Z and Pauna at least knew that Akira really cared for his cousin and didn’t get to see her too often. “I’d appreciate if you didn’t talk badly about someone you’ve never met Daisy.” 

“If she’s like in your life, then she’s like my competition! Fess up baby, are you like seeing another girl?” Obviously she hadn’t heard the ‘cousin’ part, or replaced it mentally with ‘girlfriend’. 

“No.” Akira pulled his hand out of her manicured grip. “Don’t call me baby if you please. I don’t appreciate you talking about my cousin like that. She’s FAMILY, that's all.” 

Daisy didn’t waste time in clinging to his arm. “So are we going like on that date tonight? Like I’m so excited for it, I couldn’t like decide what to wear!” She gestured to the very stressed buttons on her shirt. Akira turned to face her, pulling out of her grip again.

“Did you gain weight?” he asked. Z and Pauna both gasped. He had uttered the forbidden phrase, especially around a woman. 

“Excuse me? What did you say to me Akirapoo?” Akira sighed. 

“I’m going to imitate one of my favorite cartoon characters, and it's just for you.” he explained, pulled a face and asked “Did you gain weight? A LOT of weight?” Daisy’s mouth dropped open in shock before getting upset. 

“Ah, how like rude! You didn’t even like notice my implants just for you! I did not like gain weight! I lost like six pounds! That's it, we’re like finished!” 

“I wasn’t interested in you in the first place anyways. Goodbye.” Akira responded, gently nudging her aside as he continued to walk down the street. Daisy stared after him for about three seconds before shouting ‘I HATE YOU’ and running off down the street towards the coffee shop, shoving him aside in a tearful rampage. 

“Thats got to be one of the less dramatic of Daisy’s breakups I’ve witnessed.” Z responded, increasing her stride to catch up to Akira, who simply watched the platinum blonde barrel through the foot traffic. “Don’t worry about her Takizawa, she’ll find another man to hook onto soon enough.” 

“Z, I hate to be like rude, but Daisy has no sense of direction and I should like go make sure she actually makes it to class today. You don’t mind if I like ditch you two, do you?” Pauna asked, tapping her friend’s shoulder. 

“Go for it, see you in class. Try not to be late, I’d rather not have to sit through the Drone by myself.” Z smiled, allowing her friend to take off after Daisy. She looked to Akira, who waited patiently for her to catch up. “Sorry about that. Pauna and Daisy seem to make a pretty good pair when they aren’t trying to mimic the valley girls.” He chuckled with a smile, rubbing the lipstick smear off his cheek with his sleeve. 

“You seem to have tamed your hair today Zecora.” At the very least, Akira Takizawa treated his classmates with mutual respect. Plus, he read the book in class, so notetaking wasn’t as crucial for him.

“Can’t believe that the water is getting so expensive just for distilled.” Zecora muttered, running her fingers through the multi colored locks. 

“Might be time to consider buying a water purifier. Dye it a bit, and someone will pin you as being related to that King of Games fellow I hear about on the news.” Her hair color didn’t change too often but if Zecora could afford it, she tried an occasional hair dye, keeping the highlights a different color, but not too outrageous. 

“Water purifiers don’t get enough of the chlorine out to use it for washing my hair Takizawa. The water bill gets so high when I try to purify enough water to do my hair with three times a month. I’m just lucky that it stays clean for the most part. Besides, my hair color isn’t that extreme. I’ve seen the color spreads of that guy in the news. Won the American Championship again, and I swear thats a wig. How else could he keep his hair like that constantly. ” Akira chuckled again, changing his briefcase from one shoulder to the other to shake his arm out and restore the circulation. Zecora briefly noticed his walking gait a bit different then normal. Slower. “Did you hurt yourself again?” she asked, concerned. 

“Landed a bit roughly on my ankle falling out of bed this morning. It's not totally healed from the last sprain, so it's not in 100% condition. I’ll be just fine. Just will slow me up for about a day. Don’t tell Saki if she starts hounding you for details on that.” he asked. Zecora and Saki weren’t best of friends, but they were close enough to Skype every now and again. Zecora never appreciated being flounced at games time and time again. 

“Picking her up later?”

“Yeah, she wants to go to the company and check on the Eden system again.” Saki was three years older than Akira, but she had breezed through her bachelor’s degree in three years and had been hired onto a software team with her college classmates to write an all out comprehensive visual search system. She had brought it to America not too long ago, and at least in the city, it was a revolutionary hit. The Eden system had made a huge impact in Japan, her home country before she came to America to seed the system into society. 

“Doesn’t she drive?” Akira shook his head.

“Hates dealing with the traffic, so I offered to escort her from her place to the Eden building on my bike.” A very special place had to be held with Akira in order to ride along with him on that bright yellow motorcycle he owned. 

“You’re a good cousin, you know that?” Zecora teased. “Taking her anywhere she wants, it's almost if you were a couple then family.” She only grinned at his withering gaze, but it faded easily. Jokes rolled off him easier than some people, if they weren’t about his very close relationship with his cousin. At that, a strange ringtone issued from Akira’s pocket. Fishing out his overly advanced phone, he flicked it open, stopping to answer. “Hello?” A minute of listening then “Yes, hold on please.” 

“Work calls again, huh?” Zecora asked to an affirmative nod. “Same thing to tell the professor?” 

“Sorry to make you deliver that message time and time again, but I can’t negotiate much time off. I’ll catch up with you later to get the homework assignments.” Zecora waved him off as she continued to head for school, diverting to gather her friends and a cup of joe from the nearest coffee shop. Akira watched her go as he turned back to the phone. “Sorry. You were saying Juiz?” 

ENJOYING YOUR SEMESTER MR. TAKIZAWA? 

“Yes Juiz, if I was present for most of it, it's very enjoyable. What is needed of me now?” 

NUMBER 9, YOU ARE REQUESTED AT THIS LOCATION AT THIS TIME. THE DETAILS WILL BE GIVEN TO YOU WHEN YOU ARE IN ROUTE. PLEASE DO NOT BE LATE, AS THERE WILL BE NO SECOND CHANCES. 

“Long as you keep your promises Juiz, I’ll be there, don’t worry.”

TABS ON YOUR CLASSMATES AND COUSIN AS WELL AS HER FRIENDS ARE KEPT SECRET AS ALWAYS NUMBER 9. PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE DESIGNATED ROUTE. 

“Fine. Goodbye Juiz. I’ll call when I get to the location.” 

GOODBYE MR. TAKIZAWA, NOBLESSE OBLIGE. 

Snapping the phone shut, Akira sighed. How he managed to pass his classes at this rate was a surprise even to him. No request of his ever encompassed his personal life, it was precious enough to keep it out of the tracking systems, and he could keep up with the schoolwork. He had to be there for that test though, and he intended to finish this job before then. With that, Akira turned right and headed north for what would turn out to be a life changing experience for him. 

~

‘I wonder what Akira does for a living? Half the time I see him after he gets a call he’s limping or got something else wrong. Maybe he’s a security guard for a major company that gets many spats? Possibly. I’m not sure. Argh, I’m not going to try and think about it.’ A shrill version of ‘I Believe I can Fly’ trilled in her pocket, jerking Zecora from her thoughts. Fishing the offending item out, and answered. 

“Hello sis.”  _ How’d you know it was me? _ “Caller ID. Do you still not have a current phone?”  _ Phones are expensive out here. I’m calling Collect. Happy Birthday! _ Holy cow, she had forgotten her own birthday briefly. “Thanks Az, but it's not for a week or two.”  _ So? I might not have enough time next week to call and wish you the best for becoming an adult at last! We’re gonna hang out when I get home, I promise. _ “You’re the best Az. Don’t work too hard, and wish the hubby and my nephew the best.”  _ Will do. Alles Gute zum Geburtstag kleine Schwester. _ "I know you're a german translator and all Sis, but I can't understand what you just said."  _ Happy birthday little sister. _

Zecora shut off the phone, grinning broadly. Her sister Azea was ten years her senior, happily married two years with a 3 year old little boy. Working as a translator consultant in the German Embassy, she had been away for over 2 years, but she kept in close contact. One glance at her phone again, and the happy mood evaporated. ‘I’m late!’ Passersby down the sidewalk were nearly knocked aside by the rush of late students as Zecora dived into the ragtag student mob, being swept up into the elaborate private secondary school she attended. 

~

SMACK

“Ms. Zecora! Pay attention please” One green eye opened, looking upwards towards the irritated professor, the ruler that smacked the desk in one hand and a pointing rod in in the other. 

“....’m payin’ attention.” she yawned audibly, stretching both arms out across her desk. “Sound of your voice sounds like what I used to get put to bed with. Slept like a baby after about five minutes.” 

“Well excuse me for dragging you away from your paying more attention to the inside of your eyelids. Please answer the question. What do you do when a zombie has cornered you inside a building. You have no access to food or water without being vulnerable to the horde. You have one choice of weapon, and you need to get your way through them. Explain your choice and how it benefits.” The Drone replied darkly. Zecora rolled her eyes briefly. Yes, the nutty professor prefered being heard out rather then slept through. 

“Gold sword with flame 1 smite 5 enchantment.” she mumbled. “Mows easily through the undead, lights them on fire when the sun doesn’t finish the job.” The few gamers in class chuckled at this comment, realizing the reference. However, the professor wasn’t pleased with that answer. 

“Clearly you need to read the ‘zombie survival’ guide more carefully.” The ‘phap’ of a single pamphlet hit the desk, mocking her. “These questions are on your next test!” he barked at the rest of the class. 

‘Clearly you need to get the screws tightened in your head.’ Zecora thought as he moved away to pick another student who actually didn’t think his theories were BS. She didn’t really care about the zombie theories. The undead and occult were for the goths and churchgoers to deal with. The regular science professor’s wife had gone into labor early a month ago, and he took a three month maternity leave to keep his wife company for their newborn baby girl. In his place came a zombie obsessed teacher who surprised everyone with the idea that he actually had a master’s in science and archeology. Tall and thin, the man had a thin brush of a mustache, a bowl shaped amount of graying blond hair and wore khaki suit, white tie, and loafers, occasionally round old fashioned glasses. 

“Now class. Today we will be discussing the senses of the undead. They do not possess true ‘senses’ like you or me. They are drawn to the living essence that we have.”

“What parts of us put off this essence?” a student asked in the back of the class. 

“Any living tissues have living essence. It exists on the molecular level, inside our very cells. The undead no longer possess any living essence, and they crave it. Consider it in terms of electrons.” Pausing a moment, the professor turned to the whiteboard, drawing a number of circles with + and - in them. “The negative electrons, the undead, are being drawn to us, the positive electrons. The electrical signals from this draw stimulate the senses. Sight, hearing, taste, smell… these enhancements to the reanimated corpse make them all the more deadly and harder to avoid or escape.” 

“What happens if a zombie catches you and eats you?” another student asked. 

“The removal of your living essence causes a reaction that makes finding more living essence to sustain the drained portion an overwhelming priority. You become a living dead, a zombie that hasn’t quite rotted yet. It's how they spread so quickly. One undead bites a human, the human turns and bites another and so on and so forth. The spread of the loss of living essence can devastate a population within days.” 

“Are animals vulnerable? Is it like rabies or the flu?” 

“Anything with living essence is vulnerable!” the professor shouted, half the class jumping a bit. “It is why we are all doomed to become zombies!” Clearing his throat, the professor pushed his glasses up his nose a bit. “Now, for homework. Please research the effect of how electronic signals affect the cells and what processes use electrons to move things around inside the body. We will continue this on Wednesday. Please remember to start studying for the exam! Class dismissed.” With that, the professor erased the board, packed his things and left the room without much backwards glance. 

“Kooky old man.” Zecora heard one of the other students mutter audibly once the door shut. “I heard he was a real wiz when it came to archeology and stuff in his youth. Must’ve seen too many movies with zombies before going out on a dig once, and running out claiming that the undead were after him. Not been the same since. Shame, ‘cause I’ve read lots on mummies and the undead and they never mention anything about electricity moving the corpses.” sighing, Zecora placed the minimal amount of notes on the electrons in her bag with a note of gloom. If it weren’t for the professor’s obsession with zombies, this would be an interesting class. 

“I know…” came a rather creepy Igorish voice behind Zecora as she left the science classroom for her next class. “I know...!” 

“Know what? That your voice could make a girl jump out of their skin if you got any closer?” Zecora asked, not bothering to look over her shoulder. “What do you want Edgar?” 

“Aw man, you’re not easy to spook.” the scoliotic geeky student grumbled, ambling along behind her, walking almost gorilla like with a short messy thatch of red greased hair. “I know why Takizawa is always around you…” he leered a bit, squinty eyes wide and leering behind huge round overly magnified glasses. “He likes you!”

“I doubt that Edgar. He just broke up with Daisy this morning and I highly doubt he’s putting himself available anytime soon.” 

“I know! Its spreading through the school like wildfire! He didn’t show for English again either.” He wiggled long fingers gleefully. “The gossip’s too much! I gotta know it all!” He laced his fingers together, staring a hole in her back. “Now, I want to know something that you have. Think of it like show and tell. You show me what I want to know, and I won’t tell.” she knew he wanted her notes. The running rumor was that Zecora’s science notes could get one through any test. She didn’t appreciate the potential acceleration of this rumor. Too many students harassing her for a chance to pass a test without much studying. The tests were open note after all. 

“Don’t you have the Drone next period?” Zecora deadpanned. “The Drone doesn’t allow late students in class, and I know you have two tardies already.”

“Show me your notes, please? I didn’t study for the Drone’s quiz!” Edgar almost squeaked, clearly desperate for the notes. 

“Don’t have any. Get going now, scram.” Wheeling around, Zecora stared him down with a glare that would impress any hungry cobra. “Now.” Nose wrinkled in disgust from lack of notes, the gorilla boy scuttled down the hall towards his classroom. Puberty either hadn’t hit yet or didn’t treat him well. ‘Clearly, this rumor needs to be stopped at the source.’ Zecora thought, her good mood dashed. Thankfully class for her had a long break between now and her next class, Boot Camp in the evening. ‘I think I’ll go get lunch and see if I can drag any more notes out of the book before class.’ With that, Zecora headed out the door of the private institution to pick up some lunch. 

~

Being a student on a budget limited to her own pocket money, Zecora perused the nearest Quicki Mart for a bite to eat. She didn’t need too much, but enough to get through break and a rigorous class later in the evening. Ultimately, she picked out a pair of cereal protein bars, a ham and cheese sub with the veggie works and a bottle of water. Much as she enjoyed soda as the next girl, the soda water bubbles made her sneeze repeatedly. Paying for her meal, Zecora ended up taking up residence inside the coffee shop closer to the school. She chose a seat near the back, a chair that could lean against the wall. Once the ham sub, half the water and one protein bar were demolished in what felt like minutes, Zecora retrieved her notebook, a silver ballpoint pen and her science textbook out of her briefcase. As much as she despised the class nowadays, Zecora found little use in spiting the substitute professor with not doing the homework. She wanted a good grade to get into a technical school and that needed top grades. Ok, she didn’t have the best grades, but hopefully it would get her in the right direction. 

Her textbook had the look of being well-loved, if compared to a child’s storybook. Slightly bent edges, a colorful array of post-it notes sticking out in three directions, highlighting and circled words inside on most pages that the class reviewed. Due to her excessive note taking inside the book itself, Zecora asked her parents for the money to buy the book from the school and have it as her own personal copy. Instead of a book, she treated it like a friend. A stretchy fabric book sleeve enveloped the front cover, decorated sparsely with a splash photo of the Milky Way and a few scattered star systems. The book hardly left her side. If any of her rather class note hungry classmates got hold of her book, they had her notes for the last two years of science classes. A black market could be formed from copies of those notes, and she did not want her friend, the book, being considered a bargaining chip in her schooling career. 

“Are you Miss Zecora?” pausing a second but not looking up from the page she was scribbling on, Zecora’s eyes traveled upwards to land on a nervous looking boy. He wore the freshman’s pin on his uniform collar, almost too jumpy to be allowed. “Thats me.” she replied, watching him without blinking. He gulped, staring at his shoes for a minute then looking back at her. “My name is Finley. I...I’m new to the school.” He seemed unsure of himself, stumbling over his words and not keeping eye contact. “You see… I’m not...not good with s..sciences.. The tutoring department told me about you. How you are able to help most students go in the right direction?” Well, this didn’t make a whole ton of sense to her. “I tutored there for a quarter or two when I had time to spare. Which class are you in?” No sense in leaving a new kid out to flounder by himself in the world of something that he wasn’t begging for notes. “B..Basic biology, with the kooky professor.” he answered, fidgeting a bit. “I guess giving you a bit of help won’t hurt. Which chapter?” Zecora answered, ready to thumb through her book to the prior chapters. “C...chapter 18. I cannot understand the… the workings of how cells divide and survive.” Finley’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment. “Ah, you mean Mitosis and Meiosis.” she flipped back a couple of chapters to a detailed diagram of mitosis. “Ok, get a pen and paper out, I’ll see if I can explain this.” Finley hefted his bag onto the table briefly, picking out a heavily chewed plastic pen and a bent spiral notebook. 

She spent about 5 minutes explaining to him the process of mitosis. Halfway through, she noticed he seemed more zoned out then scared now. Was he… under the influence? Zecora snapped her fingers in his face. “HEY, I’m trying to talk here.” “WAAAAH!” Finley jumped back, almost knocking his chair over. A few customers looked over, but he waved that he was fine, sheepishly. “Darn it, I dropped my pen.” He tried to stoop to reach it, but… “That was my bad kid, let me get it.” Zecora paused from her explanation to duck under the table, searching on hand and knees for the wayward pen. “I’m sorry Miss Zecora…” Finley muttered almost as a whisper. She finally found the pen, popping her head out from under the table. “Found it! Fin? Finley?” Finley was gone, his half finished notes on mitosis laying on the table. What she didn’t see… WAS THE BOOK. She swore, grabbed her briefcase and bolted out the door in time to see a blur of green disappear into the crowd. “Wait! Come back with my book!”

 

Finley sprinted for two blocks before darting into an alleyway. He put as much distance between the girl and himself as he could before pausing. Breathing hard, he held the science tome to his chest as he took three more random turns to come out near the school fence. Waiting for him in the shadows was a short, ‘buggy’ boy.  He almost resembled Edgar, with large glasses held together with a metal beetle, a straight-cut pudding bowl haircut of pale bluish green, wearing a raincoat with a large beetle imprint and bug shoes. His name was Weevil Underwood. The bug duelist’s fall from grace had put him in a rather bullied and ill-reputable position. He kept trying to drudge up his reputation by challenging his competitors time and time again. He lied. He cheated. He would sabotage his opponent’s deck. For some reason, he waited now for Finley. 

“I see you completed your task.” he sneered, watching Finley approach. “Well done.” Finley’s nervous look broke apart into a sly, mean smile. 

“She was putty in my hands. Soon as I told her I needed help with understanding something she fell right in my trap.” he gave the short duelist a look. “So I got the book, where’s the rare card you promised me?” Weevil grinned, cackling quietly. “Ah yes, the rare card. Here, as promised.” He handed Finley a facedown card. Eagerly, the boy flipped it over, and his face fell. “Do you think I’m stupid? This is the most common card! You promised me a rare card!” 

“Well some cards are harder to get than others. Here’s your real rare card!” Fishing something out of his coat innards, Weevil leveled a miniature bug squirt gun at Finley’s face and fired. Finley screamed, a mass of cobwebs and plastic spiders covering his face in a sticky, stringy mess. Cackling, Weevil picked up the stolen book and disappeared into the city. “Next time, don’t think one little errand is going to earn you the rank of Queen Bee!” 

~

A frenzied mix of thoughts raced through Zecora’s head as she pushed and shoved her way through the lunch rush throng of people meandering along the sidewalks. A number of people yelled after her to not be in such a rush, but they knew nothing. That rat had stolen her book! He moved so quickly that she had lost sight of him before reaching the street. She had to think, but it wasn’t easy; her heart raced, and terrible thoughts of what would happen to her book kept shoving themselves in front of what she was trying to think about. Being a student on campus, likely the rat had taken her best friend back to the school, where it would be worth a small fortune to those who knew about her notes. She would check there first. 

Wheeling around on her heel, Zecora raced back towards the campus. She made it there within ten minutes, nursing a stitch in her side and gasping for breath. Dang it, why hadn’t she chosen to try out for track again? Oh yeah, stamina was needed for those sprints. 

She found Finley near the boys locker room, his head practically underwater. Sense left Zecora’s side at that second. She lunged, grabbing hold of the boy’s jacket, and wheeling him around to face her. It looked as if he had been hit with a ball of paper mache paste, mixed with those stupid spider rings parents bought for their kids. “Where is my book?!” she snarled. He looked like a deer in the headlights, dripping wet with liquid cobweb sliding off his face. He stared Zecora down with wide scared eyes. “WHERE IS MY BOOK YOU LITTLE RAT?!” she grabbed his collar, dragging him down forcefully to her height (he’s about five inches taller than her). 

“Ok! Ok! Please don’t hurt me!” he tried to pull away, but Zecora’s grip held firm on his collar. “Weevil Underwood has your book! I swear it!” She didn’t let go, but the grip slightly lessened. 

“Who’s Weevil Underwood and why did you give him my book?” she asked. 

“Short, buggy, glasses… you’ll know if you see him. He promised me a rare card if I brought him what he wanted. I didn’t ask why he wanted some girl’s textbook, he was pretty specific on what it was.” Finley babbled. “He only gave me this common card and then shot me with a squirt gun full of gunk!” Finally, Zecora released the boy’s collar, still giving him an angry glare. “Better be telling the truth. Where was he last?” Finley straightened up, fixing his uniform front. “Outside the campus gates. He doesn’t go here, that much I know.” Zecora nodded, wheeling around to head for the gates. She had a book to retrieve and a thief to track. Finley suppressed a shiver as he walked away, one eye lingering on the wild haired girl. ‘What’s so important about that book anyways?’ he wondered. 

~

‘Short and buggy with glasses. I guess I can go off that description. Somewhere around the campus gates huh? Can’t help thinking it but he might be leading me on.’ Zecora thought to herself as she stalked around the outer campus perimeter. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a short kid with a book in his hand. Big round glasses? “Hey! Give me my book!” she called out, speeding up as she changed directions to follow the glasses. He smirked and headed out onto the street. Zecora skidded to a halt once she reached the boulevard. Of course the lunch rush was still in full effect, and the short glasses used that and his height to advantage. Looking left and right, immediately Zecora did not see the thief anywhere in sight on her side of the street. Briefly, she caught sight of someone short with a large black imprint on his coat, holding a book across the street. Glasses flashed as the short person waved the book mockingly at her, and turned away. “Wait!” Without thinking, Zecora sprinted into the street, not bothering to look where she was going. 

“Watch out!” came a shout from someplace, distracting her. Looking to the left, she saw a medium sized shipping truck heading right for her. Fear froze her in place, brain screaming to move. Next thing she knew, Zecora found herself splayed on the sidewalk, the truck going right on past, swerving to avoid a rude taxi. Her breath came in short bursts, limbs shaking. Her life briefly flashed before her eyes before looking around for what had pushed her out of the way. She heard a myriad of voices calling out a single name, and an audible groan. Looking down, Zecora saw a messy blonde haired teenage boy, probably a bit older than she was, if she had to hazard a guess. He looked up at her, with chocolate brown eyes, and a concerned expression. “Ya ok there miss?” Devoid of words, she nodded as he pushed himself off her legs to end up sitting on the sidewalk with her. “Glad I made in time, or you woulda been hit.” 

The realization that she had lost track of the thief hit Zecora probably as hard as that truck would have. Drawing her legs close to her chest, eyes filling with tears, she bowed her head, trying to hide the tears. “Hey! You ok? Why’re you cryin’?” the boy asked, flustered. 

“Honestly Joseph, you wouldn’t understand a girl’s feelings even if you were given a chart.” came a husky female voice. Looking over the crying girl’s huddled form, he gestured her at the buxom blond walking up to him. “Mai! I di’nt do nothing, just saved her life and she started crying!” The woman punched him lightly on the top of his head. “Dimwit! She nearly died! Of course a girl’s going to cry about that!” she responded angrily. “Honestly, how will you survive.” he grinned sheepishly. “You’ll be there to nudge me in the right direction.” she sighed, and punched him again. “Just be glad that I like you.” He rubbed the top of his head, looking past her to the bunch of people who had run up to him. 

“What do you think you were doing man?! Running into traffic like that! You could’a been killed!” “Tristan’s right, that was really reckless!” “Big brother! Are you ok?!” the redhead of the group rushed to him, checking her brother over for any injury. He smiled, looking up to the short girl. “Don’t worry Serenity, you big brother’s just fine.” She sniffled, hugging him with tearful eyes. The taller teen in the group snorted. “Such a big brother, making your sister cry.” “Watch it, that’s my sis you’re talkin’ about.” the blond growled, immediately in ‘overprotective big brother mode’. 

While the two males argued over the now blushing but still crying redhead girl, the buxom blond Mai knelt on one knee, checking on the crying girl. She appeared high school, maybe early college age, judging by her dress. Her hair was oddly wild, but well cared for, somehow. “Hun, don’t worry about the idiot. He’s not hurt. Now why are you crying?” she patted her shoulder, trying to be sympathetic. Zecora looked up at her, eyes growing puffy and red. 

“I...my textbook...stolen…” she hiccuped, trying to calm down enough to explain. “Its just a textbook, what’s so important-” “It's EVERYTHING to me! That book is all my notes for classes! I’ve had that book all throughout high school!” she wailed, burying her face again. “It got st-stolen by some freshman and it-it got taken by W-Weevil Un-Underwood.” At that name, anyone who was remotely listening piped up. “Wat? What’s Bug Boy doing in town?!” “Joey, didn’t you see him in the tournament?” the brunette asked his friend. “Yeh, he go’ flattened again, first round. Probably trying to sabotage someone again. What would that little worm want with a textbook?” Zecora continued her story. “I s-saw him a-across the street and was t-trying to get to him to g-get my book back, but…” she hiccuped and buried her face again to hide a wave of fresh tears. A new voice spoke, deeper than the others. 

“Did you see which way he went?” Zecora pointed to the right across the street. “All right. Joey, you, Tristan and I will find Weevil. Mai, do you mind?” The blonde chuckled, winking at the speaker. “Serenity, Tea and I will all keep her company. There’s a coffee shop not far away, we’ll all meet there. Oh, and give the little bug a hard time, will you Joseph?” she winked at the blond, who went red. “Uh, right. Come on, we’ve got a bug to squash!” Zecora heard three sets of footsteps leave, and a voice call out “Be careful big brother!” Two pairs of arms pulled her to her feet. Zecora looked up to a brunette, the short redhead and the buxom blond, feeling embarrassed, trying not to look any of them in the eye. “Let’s get you some coffee hun. My treat.” Mai steered the distraught girl into the nearest coffee shop with little resistance, intent on more information. 

 


	2. Retrieval and Relics

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new friend, a familiar place, and more blast from the past faces.

Upon getting the girls seated near the back of the tiny coffee shop, Mai sauntered up to the counter, giving the clerk a flirtatious wink. Clearly still a hormonal teenager, he went bright red. “H-how can I help you Miss?” he asked. “Grande skinny latte, two pumps salted caramel, upside down with no whip, two tall hot chocolates and a tall cinnamon roll latte, no whip, extra hot.” she rattled off. “And all for here.” The poor clerk kept shaking his head like a dog with itchy ears, fighting to not stare at her chest, as it moved with each hand motion she made. Mai paid for the drinks, returning to the table. She could see the poor clerk shove the receipt into his partner’s hands and flee into the back room, red as a beet. “Men.” she sighed. “Such womanizers at a young age.”

To Tea, she figured this poor girl just needed a few minutes to collect herself. To explain the situation around girls. Probably a similar idea to what Mai chose to do. She decided to try to cheer the poor girl up. “Don’t worry. My friends will get your book back in no time flat.” she told her in a cheery tone. “We’ve dealt with Bugboy before, and it's not like we can’t just deal with him again.” Serenity though, took a different approach. “What’s your name? I’m Serenity.” The wild haired girl looked up at her with puffy eyes. 

“Zecora.” she answered, wiping her eyes with the napkin she was passed. “I go to the high school down the street.” Serenity acted interested. “What do you study?” she asked, resting her chin on an upturned palm. “I’m pretty good with sciences, but I haven’t really decided on what to do for college.” Running her fingers through wild hair again, Zecora looked back and forth between the three women as Mai returned to the table. “Are you all… um, from here?” Mai shook her head no, brushing back her curly golden mane. 

“Sweetheart, I’ve lived in the city. There’s perks, don’t get me wrong, but it just got too stuffy for me. No, I travel for the tournaments, and stick around the places that interest me.” she replied, fishing her deck out from a side pocket on her bodice. 

“We’re visiting from San Francisco, but my brother and I and his friends are from Japan.” Serenity answered. That surprised Zecora, her English seemed quite good. All of them.

“I’m on break from the dance academy back in DC, so I came out to watch my friends duel in the American Championships.” Tea replied. “Not sure if we introduced ourselves. I’m Tea” she gestured to Serenity “this is Serenity, and this is Mai Valentine.” she pointed to Mai, who shuffled her deck with the ease of a card shark. Zecora looked at Mai for about ten seconds before speaking. “My friend Pauna talked about you being in the tournament.” Mai looked up, mildly interested. “Does your friend duel?” Zecora frowned. “Might. I don’t though. I don’t have time and I’m no good.” the blond snorted in disbelief. “Nonsense. You just need practice. Here, I’ll teach you. Deck’s all shuffled and everything.” 

Tea raised an eyebrow at her friend’s girlfriend. “Since when do you deal with teaching someone to duel?” Mai wagged a manicured finger at her. “Most duelists aren't worth my time. You’re her opponent anyways.” Frowning briefly, but shrugging it off, Tea pulled her deck out of her purse. Serenity looked back and forth between the two potential players in interest. “My big brother told me about Duel Monsters but I never really learned how the game works. Tristan and Duke did explain some of it to me when I was getting my bandages off.” Zecora’s eyes briefly lingered on her. Her attention to details noticed very light lines beneath the lower lids of her eyes. She didn’t comment though, as Mai was walking her through the basics of this game. ‘Won’t Saki be surprised if we play this again.’ she thought briefly. 

~

The American Museum of Natural History hadn’t yet opened to visitors today, although the curator headed for the door with a handful of keys dangling from a steel ring in his hand. Back in the dinosaur area however, the place had been roped off for cleaning the bones. One of the workers stood on a small step stool, similar to one a person would find in their house, dusting at the bones delicately with a Swiffer duster. A light snore made her jump, almost toppling into the bones of the Allosaurus she had been cleaning. From her viewpoint, she could see what looked like a boot poking out from behind the visitor’s bench. Climbing down carefully and holding the Swiffer as a weapon, she approached the snoring boot quietly. The sight was almost too comical when she came close enough to see over the bench. A teenager was sprawled out against the wall, sound asleep. His hat pulled down over his eyes, dressed similar to her idol, Indiana Jones. What almost spooked her was the large shadow that he was using as a pillow. One large gold eye watched her, almost lazily. That thing was alive! Green, scaly… alligator?! The gator growled, snapping her jaws in warning. The teen grumbled, rolling over onto his side. “Easy Shirley, you’ll be outta that trap in just a mo’.” he muttered in an Australian accent, hands twisted in the motion of trying to pry something open. Whatever he was dreaming changed when he started thrashing around briefly. 

“Hey! Wake up!” she called out, unwilling to touch him for fear of the gator. Instead, she shoved the bench lightly with her foot. A yelp, a crash, and a multitude of swearing animatedly. The gator ambled out from behind the bench, snapping her jaws again. “Shirley… C’mere girl.” the teen mumbled, feeling around blindly for his pillow. Casting the woman an distrustful look, the gator turned around to her human, nosing him. “Good girl Shirley.” Tilting his hat upwards, he gave her a sheepish grin. “‘Ello mate. Sorry ‘bout that if Shirley scared ya.” 

“How did you get a live gator in here?!” she almost squeaked. The teen frowned, one green eye staring her down. Half his face seemed encased in bandages. “She’ no gator, she’s a born an’ bred crocodile. Gotta kno’ the difference if ye’ goin’ to take care of the bones right.” Looking up at the Allosaurus bones she had been cleaning. “Didn’ get yer name Sheila.” he commented offhandedly as he climbed to his feet, stretching his arms across his body. “Um… everyone calls me Kathy, but its Katherine.” the fossil cleaner answered but he didn’t seem to be paying much attention to her. “Not you Sheila, this pretty girl here. Can’ you tell?” Kathy blinked in confusion. “I’m pretty new here, just cleaning the bones really.” He pointed upwards, towards the pelvic bones, launching into a lecture of about ten different ways one could tell male dino from female dino. “Final’y, a male dino is a drake, and a female dino’s a hen.”

“Look kid, I’m paid to clean the bones, clean the exhibit, and make sure no one touches-” He ran a gloved hand over the allosaurus’ tibia as high as he could reach, almost lovingly. “You ran a busy life, di’nt ya girl…” he muttered to the bones. “So I’d appreciate if you would leave while I finish up before I get in trouble with the curator!” she finished, loudly. The teen turned around, and the croc growled at her, but didn’t move farther than that. “It’s already openin’ time, so I’m here during hours.” “Go get a ticket then. The Smithsonian ain’t free!” Heaving a heavy sigh, the teen scratched the back of his head and turned away to kneel on one knee upon the tiles. “C'mon Shirley, up!” At the word, the crocodile climbed onto his back, only to be strapped into an odd pack. “G’day Sheila, take care of the girls and guys in here. They led good lives.” the teen turned away, and he disappeared. Kathy was left standing there in mild shock until the guard shouted at her that it was opening time. 

~

The trio of women spent nearly four hours teaching Zecora how to play Duel Monsters. Having consumed more coffee than usual, and Mai had slipped some irish cream from a tiny flask in her purse into her own, which each had tasted just a tiny bit, the foursome seemed caffeinated to the point of tipsy. Zecora glanced down at her cards, now dueling without much help from Mai, aside from a brief explanation about some very odd looking magic cards in the bunch. After two losses and much coaxing to not give up, the wild haired girl now trounced yet another of Tea’s fairy winged puffballs with a powered up harpie lady. 

“See, all you needed was some practice.” Mai exclaimed, taking a sip of an ice water. “A bit more experience, and I’d say you’d be ready to turn around and take on Joey.” Zecora’s eyes showed mild unsureness but with the amount of coaching she had received, it might work. 

“I would need my own deck though. I can’t just keep using yours, Miss Valentine.” “Call me Mai. Miss Valentine makes me sound old.” Zecora nodded in response, looking back down at her hand. Tea starred in irritation at her own hand. “I told you angel, you need some stronger monsters in your deck. You can only power up those puffballs so much.” Mai explained, walking around the table to watch Zecora’s opponent. Tea sighed. 

“I know, I know. My money goes into dance classes though, and living in the city though. I dont’ have the money to-” “Ask Yugi for a few packs of cards for Christmas! It's not as if you two aren’t friends anymore.” Looking back with a deep flush to her cheeks, Tea gave the older woman a glare. “Who blabbed about that?!” “Joey did, but I asked. At least you had the sense to move on with your life and not wait for him to make the first move.” Tea’s expression looked as if she were plotting murder of her best friend’s pride.

“Um Mai? That’s not the best subject…” Serenity piped up finally. “It’s kind of a public secret.” Zecora only half listened to the conversation. However, when she heard the bell tinkle behind her with the entrance of a loud group, she looked back. The boys were back, at least the one she recognized was. The blond had a tight grip combined with the taller brunette, holding onto a struggling short boy, who wasn’t wearing glasses, squealing like a stuck pig. 

“Lemme go! Lemme go! You pair of barbarians will be sorry!” “Shaddap, and give the girl back her textbook Weevil.” “I don’t have it, and even if I did, why would I bother giving it up to you?!” Weevil’s nasally voice growled angrily. The brunette glared down at him. “Shall we test that theory?” he threatened. “Oh Tristan, no need for that. This thing needs a woman’s touch.” Mai sauntered over, a scary smile reaching her eyes. Weevil briefly stopped struggling, eyes wide and breathing hard from struggling and running. “Weevil, you can either make this easier or much harder on yourself. Give back the book, or your deck becomes my next pack of drink coasters.” “Not my bugs! Not my bugs!” the buggy duelist squealed. “Back pocket! Back pocket!” 

“Now we’re gettin’ somewhere.” Joey exclaimed, though it took two to drag the book out of Weevil’s ‘back pocket’. “Here ya go miss. Your textbook.” He passed the book into Zecora’s hands. Immediately she started rifling through the pages, checking for any changes. Hugging the book to her chest, tears forming in her eyes. Once the textbook was in her arms, Weevil’s arms were released, where he gathered his glasses, snarled he’d be back, and fled. 

“Thank you. How do I repay you for this?” she asked. “Nah, you’re fine. Jus’ glad to help a girl in need- Ow!” Mai punched him on the back of the head. “Whad’ai do?” Mai rolled her eyes and walked away again back to the game. Zecora’s gaze however, landed on the shortest boy in the group. Ok, he wasn’t that short, but somewhat shorter than the other boys. Multicolored hair spiked in the shape of a star. He watched her through golden bangs with large amethyst eyes, but they had an underlying seriousness. Dressed in dark blue jeans and a buttoned leather jacket, he wore a silver cartouche around his neck, though she couldn’t read anything printed upon it. Although he hadn’t said anything and stood in a relaxed proud posture, to Zecora’s eye he became the elephant in the room.

“You’re Yugi, aren’t you.” she pointed out. He nodded. “I have a stupid question for you. Is your hair real?” He blinked, then smiled. 

“Yes, my hair’s real. I take it those American magazines still don’t believe that.” Compared to what she had heard from others, Yugi’s voice seemed deeper, more mature. Even with a good grasp of English.

Zecora shrugged. “Word in the halls at one point claimed that your hair's a wig.” As if wanting to get this point dealt with one last time, he took hold of one waved lock of gold, tugging on it quite hard. Judging by the grimaced look and a light tint of pink developing from the stress to the scalp, she nodded in approval. “Ok, its official. Not a wig.” This statement pleased him, massaging his forehead lightly. “You didn’t have to do that you know…” Zecora muttered, looking down at her feet. All the guy did was smile, but… (and Zecora considered herself a pretty good judge in character) it felt empty. Just like a circus without passion going through the motions to bring in a bit of revenue. Was this guy really the King of Games? 

“Ok Yug’, it's time for you to finally pick where you want to go!” Joey took it upon himself to dramatically draw out the guidebook from his own pocket and place it in his friend’s hands. Needless to say, he only looked down at the book in surprise. “We’ve all chosen about 4 times each where we wanted to go and you kept saying ‘next round, next round I’ll choose.’ Now pick something already!” This time, Joey ducked being punched behind his friend, who took three female fists to the shoulder. “Hey man, not cool!” the brunette growled, but put on a brave face for Serenity. 

“If I can help you pick a good spot to sightsee…” Attention landed on Zecora, flushing red and holding her book to her chest, but trying to bury her face in it. “The American Museum of Natural History has a great Egyptology exhibit, and the Intrepid Air, Sea and Space has one of a kind exhibits. Rumor has it they are featuring artifacts from new tombs in the Valley of the Kings.” Joey wrinkled his nose briefly but didn’t say anything. He wasn’t a history buff. “Not sure if that’s such a fun place to see in the city, but… Yug’s choice.” 

“... I think I would like to see this Egyptology exhibit.” His words were carefully picked, and apparently took his five companions by surprise. “My grandfather was an archaeologist, excavating tombs in Egypt and all over the world in his youth.” Zecora’s eyes brightened. Another sciency person! 

“Allow me to be your guide then.” Obviously he did not expect to be dragged out of the coffee shop and towards the museum by a shorter girl with an iron grip on his upper arm. 

“Should we follow? I’m not sure it’s so good for Yug to see the Egyptology stuff so soon.” “Perhaps this is his idea of closure Big Brother, that he’s actually ready to let go and get back to his life.” “I guess Serenity. I dunno, it’s kinda hard to see into his head, y’ know?” “Oh for pete’s sake, someone’s not telling me something.” Mai exclaimed, looking back and forth between the four friends. “What is up with Yugi’s zombie behavior?” 

“Don’t go spread it around Mai, we worked real hard to keep him out of the public spotlight, that’s why there are rumors flying that he’ll retire like Kaiba did with his title intact.” “Why’s that? Why bring him to a tournament?! In America of all places?” “Japan’s not holding good memories for him right now. His grandpa, the Pharaoh… both the most important people in his life gone.” Mai felt a pang of remorse for asking, sadness for the poor kid, but got over it rather quickly. “So he’s tripped over a boulder in life. Obviously his legs aren’t broken, so he can get back up and survive this like a man.” It appeared that Tea really wanted to say something, but kept changing her mind, looking like a goldfish. “Yeh, you’re right Mai. Let’s go find him.” Five people left the coffee shop, intent on tracking down their wayward friend. 

~

“Mind if I ask another question?” Zecora asked Yugi, still making a beeline for the museum. He nodded absently. “How do the level up monsters work? I keep getting flattened by them, as they don’t start off very big, but get stronger really fast.” He ended up thinking on it for a full minute before answering.    
“Level up monsters are definitely a way to psych out your opponent. Take the Silent Swordsman for example. Starts off small, but each standby phase it gains a level and 500 points in attack and defense. The Armed Dragon is another that can throw off your opponent. You can use Masked Dragon’s dragon search ability to summon the base creature on your opponent’s turn, then sacrifice it for the next level on your turn, bringing out the lv. 5 with double the amount of attack points. It’s a powerful creature with a dangerous ability. I heard that Industrial Illusions is making more types of level up monsters.” He paused, watching her striding confidently down the street toward the museum. 

“Yeah, that Armed Dragon is just nasty. Silent Magician too. My friend likes magicians and dragons. She’s got fantasy covered on most bases in her deck. We play online but I don’t have my own deck. Miss…. er, Mai was teaching me how to play.” He nodded almost mechanically. “If anyone can teach you the basics, its Mai or Joey.  They have an easier time with being patient with others…” Zecora glanced back at him, but Yugi just looked around at the area she towed him through. Was she going nuts, or did he seem kind of lost? Odd. “Oh, I hope you’ve got a way to avoid rabid fans that isn’t having a 6’ tall bodyguard.” He shook his head no, a small frown crossing his almost impassive features. Oh dear. She had to think fast. No way could she drag the poor man through the open air market and not have his hair give him away. That way was the closest route to the museums too… “Um…. this way.” Taking a sudden turn, Zecora kept moving, eyes scanning left to right for any rabid fans. Either she had scared poor Yugi with her constant moving or he just kept to himself, no way that he had much choice but to be dragged along. This would have lasted all the way to the museum, or so it was thought.

~

Zecora hadn’t planned on taking this detour, so when she ended up practically speed-walking past her two friends at the local ice cream … wait, what? Stopping dead and having Yugi almost crash into her from behind, Zecora stared to the left with mild surprise. Sitting at the parlor were Pauna and Daisy, the latter with an enormous banana split with the works half finished in front of her. She must have taken that break up harder than she thought. Pauna held a half stack of beverage napkins in front of her, an empty waste bin under the table half full with tissues. “Pauna! Daisy! What’re you doing out here?” Daisy sniffed, rotating her head sideways to stare at her friend with puffy eyes. 

“I’m -hic- eatin’.” she muttered, jabbing a spoon roughly into the split before it reached her mouth. “I can see that. Why a banana…. oh.” Since she had known her, Daisy dealt with her grief in two ways, bananas and a whole pitcher of iced tea that spanned three days last time. “Daisy, this isn’t a healthy way of dealing with stuff.” she tried to console her friend, but she had to keep in mind that she was holding the King of Games’ wrist in one hand. Pauna had noticed this.

“Z, since when are you a fan of the- Mmph!” Zecora shook her head wildly, one finger to her lips to shush her. Pauna’s words died halfway to her mouth. She pointed from the lost looking man to her, and back again, then made a heart with her fingers, a hopeful look in her eyes. Zecora shook her head wildly again, a disgusted look on her face, but didn’t say anything. She could see him watching her with no real emotion, only one eyebrow quirked upwards in questioning. “Pauna, do you have one of Daisy’s hats in your bag? My friend needs a hat. Bad.” A smirk crossed Pauna’s face, as she picked the hat right off of Daisy’s head. 

“It’ll cost ya Z. Why’re you clutching your book like that anyways?” her ‘valley girl’ accent had dropped temporarily, and for that Zecora was thankful. “Long story.” she sighed. “Was on the way to show him the museum.” she passed Yugi the hat, briefly releasing him. “Put that on, less folks will recognize you.” Staring down at the hat in his hands, the poor man gave her a lost look, as if he had never worn a hat in his life. ‘You’re kidding me.’ she thought, turning around and inspecting the headware. A white beret, right from the department store. “Pauna, you’ve dealt with my hair not wanting to behave… I think I have a new project for you.” Immediately, Pauna was on her feet, circling Yugi with all attention on him. People had briefly turned when she had stood up so fast, but with three people waving that it was fine ignored them. Ice cream over some badly dressed fanboy, after all. 

“This’ll be one for the books.” Pauna muttered, looking him up and down. The brief thought that he finally understood how bacon felt to be this much eye candy crossed Yugi’s mind as he watched her circle him round and round. He felt her handling his hair, but didn’t say anything. “I only have one question for you. What type of hair gel are you using for this?” 

A moment of thought then “About six jars of Axe hair gel every four days for long as I can remember.” “Oh my god, no. You are ruining your scalp! I’m surprised you don’t have a wig by now. Your hair is the talk of the town half the time someone sees you on tv or youtube or whatever.” Pauna continued to circle him, muttering. “This won’t be easy. When was the last time you put that gel in anyways.” Judging as he had seen the tips starting to split apart… “Four days. I was going to fix it tonight.” She shook her head. “Not happening. From this point, drop the gel. You’ll give yourself an early case of male pattern baldness with any more hair gel.” Zecora nodded, allowing her friend a bit of space. She glowered at a pair of kids who were briefly staring but went back to their ice cream. Daisy continued to jab at her own banana split, lips pursed and acting moody. “I think I can salvage this. No one’ll recognize you when I’m finished. Now sit.” she dragged a chair over with one foot, persuading him to sit down. It didn’t take much, as from the looks of it, Yugi’s mind presently warred over fleeing from the haircare crazy woman and the girl who stood off to the side who had dragged him away in the first place. “Z, the cream bag in my bookbag.” 

The bag landed in her hand almost right away. Spreading out an array of hairbrushes and other assorted hair care items upon another table, Pauna examined the star shaped hair with a critical eye, no longer circling him. “I can’t flatten it out completely, but enough brushing and we might actually jam a hat on this man. Now relax, I’m not going to eat you. We’re trying to help you avoid a rabid crowd.” Despite having never met the woman with the curly Q’d hair, Yugi believed her. Then again, he never had a hard time believing people. Some people told him it was one of his fallacies, trusting others quite easily. He froze when the bristled brush started attacking the side of his head, unused to the feel of a brush in his hair. Not even Tea had tried to brush his hair before. Then again, she didn’t really need to do her own hair. 

“Don’t worry, Pauna’s my haircare specialist. If anyone can get a hat on you, it's her. Daisy and Pauna are my closest friends, and they wouldn’t tell a soul about you. Right?” Pauna nodded mechanically, still all attention on the brush and the portion of hair in her hands. Daisy pointedly ignored the world, still eating her ice cream. 

“You give me too much credit girl. Doing your hair is a challenge for anyone, and you squirm if someone pulls on it.” Pauna commented, drawing the thick bristled brush through the hair repeatedly. With how much gel had been caked on, no wonder he could jump in the ocean and not have a single hair out of place. 

“So what’s the King of Games doing out here in NYC? I heard about the tournament on the radio, but there was no mention of you…” He seemed to be half listening. “Cheerleading support for Joey and Mai.” he mumbled almost too quietly to hear. 

“Oh right! This was a two-headed giant tournament! The media would have had a field day if you were fighting alongside your friend, or even alongside Kaiba. Heaven forbid the man come out of retirement now though. What’s it been, two years? And don’t move your head, or your hair will poke out an eye. Just move your hand up and down if yes, side to side if no.” His hand moved up and down slightly. Almost like a marionette going through the motions. Zecora snuck up on his side, a sheepish grin on her face. 

“Sorry about Pauna, she’s a regular chatterbox, but she’ll be quiet if needed.” He shook his hand back and forth, eyes lingering on her. They appeared rather hollow and sad looking. “It’s all right, I’m not worried. If anything, she’s the most honest person I’ve heard around me for days.” A brief look of irritation crossed his features at this, blowing out a sigh. 

“And here I heard nothing could rattle the King of Games.” Zecora teased. He gave her a sideways look, but said nothing. “Don’t worry. I’d say some time away from what you know is good for the mind. Its soothing.” “You sound like you speak from experience.” “I don’t study 24-7 y’know. But you don’t know me anyways, so that’s moot.” Yugi nodded simply, allowing his mind to wander with the growing buzz of the blond girl muttering away as she continued to attack his hair relentlessly. The occasional tug on his scalp hardly bothered him, really. 

The phone in his pocket buzzed, and he picked it out. Undoing the slider puzzle lock, a text flashed on the screen. DUDE, WHERE’D THAT CHICK DRAG YA OFF TO? Typical Joey, in all caps. Tapping the screen lightly to reply back, he wrote  Ice cream and a girl who could help me with a hat and hit send. A minute passed and another popped up. REALLY?! ICE CREAM?! A HAT?! I THOUGHT YOU WERE BEING HAULED TO A MUSEUM.  No Joey. Apparently this city is full of my fans, and she is trying to avoid them. I’D AVOID THEM TOO. JEEZ, YOUR FANS ARE WORSE THAN MINE. YOU OK DUDE? WE’RE WORRIED ABOUT YOU.  If I am uncomfortable around this woman, I will be sure to let you know where I am. Until then, I will be with her, and you can go finish up those extra places you wanted to take Mai. I will meet you at the hotel, and will text you when I am released from this woman’s hair brush.  HAIRBRUSH?! NEVERMIND… OW MAI.  If you are going to get your hair dealt with hun, make sure they at least wash it. Gel is really gooey, just ask Joseph. MY PHONE MAI. Yugi couldn’t help but allow a phantom smile flit over his features before closing the phone and pocketing it. At least Joey understood when he wanted some alone time. However, the others seemed more willing to be attached at the hip. 

“Your friends looking for you?” he moved his hand in a ‘yes’ motion. “Don’t worry, you’re free to go if you want.” Zecora looked at her loafers, blushing a bit. “I got a bit carried away when you mentioned wanting to see the museum. I’ve never gotten anyone to go with me before, not even my parents. They’re too busy.” Yugi felt sorry for her briefly. “Don’t mind me though. If you want to go find your friends instead, I understand.” This girl seemed lonely herself. No wonder he had been able to speak his mind easier around her. Lonely souls seemed to call out to each other. His mind lingered briefly on the Pharaoh , a lonely soul trapped inside the puzzle for 5000 years, yet still having held most of his sanity. He missed the Pharaoh very much. He missed his grandfather. He missed all the adventures. He missed… well everything that happened in 4 years. The adventure, the danger, traveling, and all the duels. When it wasn’t for saving the world or keeping people from his title or puzzle, it felt… fake. He was able to cope with his friends being around, but the way they were treading on glass around him some days really didn’t help his self confidence.

The clink of a glass of water being place in front of him drew him out of a reverie. The ice cream clerk had brought over four waters, and asked Pauna about if she wanted anything more. She shook her head, and passed him a dollar, and he left, pocketing it. Bribery to keep him from saying anything, he guessed. 

“No, I’ll still go to the museum with you. I am interested in the exhibits. What else do they have beside Egyptology?” he asked Zecora, who brightened at his statement. 

“I’ve got an acquaintance who deals in fossils, and she says there’s a good display of a recent dig up right now. Their new docent is supposed to a riot. Um… the oceanics exhibit is interesting… but isn’t your home on the coast, so you could see the ocean whenever? Um… this and that really. I’ve not been in a while. If you get interested in something more specific, the Smithsonian Institute is a better choice, but they close early in the fall and winter. That’s out in Washington DC though, and at least 4 hours drive. Tourism drops once the snow starts up. Plus with all the bad weather we get during winter, it drops even further. A lot of people actually pack up and leave for the winter, and come back in the spring.” She trailed off a second. “You’re all staying someplace, right?” Another nod motion of the hand. “The tournament put us all up in a suite for a week, and we’ve got two more days before catching a plane home.” “Oh really? It might be better to go to the Intrepid tomorrow then. It’s on the other side of the city, and that's half an hour by taxi, traffic and stuff.” Yugi considered his options. “Do you have school tomorrow?” Zecora smiled. “No, thank god for that. No need for more book thieves…” she held the text tightly still in one arm, unwilling to let it leave her sights. “I have to ask you. Why is this book so important, besides having all your notes in it?” 

Zecora paused, thinking over the answer. First thought that came to mind was the fact that it was two years worth of notes, but besides the notes? Besides the fact that a rumor started because she had bought the school text for her notes? What was it besides the notes? “I...guess I don’t know really. I’m naturally protective over things I love. Family, my possessions, my friends… the book is the same thing. I guess I also love knowledge, so this book is really precious to me.” It sounded like a logical answer to her. Yugi nodded his hand, accepting that answer. “I take it that it’s similar to you?” He nodded his hand again, but didn’t elaborate. “I will say this though. If anyone tries to steal my book again, they won’t just be yelled at and tracking down the thief.” In the corner of his eye, Yugi might’ve sworn the angle of light had made her pupils contract into a reptilian slit for about a millisecond, but he blinked and there was nothing. “I don’t like that your friends just let him go like that without finding out who was behind wanting my book to go through two middlemen like that.”

“Weevil is a liar and a cheat and a coward. He’s notorious for being a ‘bad guy’, and exploits those of lesser intelligence to the fullest degree. Likely enough, someone threatened his cards like Mai did, and he did anything they asked.” Zecora wrinkled her nose at this statement, but it made sense. A coward doing anything to avoid being bullied further. “You sound like you all had experience with this.” Yugi’s eyes narrowed briefly. “He’s been a thorn in our side for a long time. He threw my Exodia cards off the ship on the way to Duelist Kingdom years ago. Nobody’s forgiven him for that. He worked for Paradias when they were a rising company here in America, trying to destroy the world… and he cheated in Battle City, but Joey handled him there.” Zecora blanched at that. She had heard of Exodia… but where? 

“OMG, your Exodia?! The legendary 5 card combo that can auto-win any game? He THREW IT OFF THE SHIP?!” Oh yes, now she knew. Pauna had followed Duelist Kingdom, Battle City, and the American Championship. “Not so loud Pauna, they’ll hear you.” Her friend threw her a dirty look, then patted Yugi’s head in sympathy, avoiding the split points. “I’m so sorry to hear that. Didn’t you lose the Egyptian God Cards too?” Yugi nodded but his eyes seemed to dull at that statement, something Zecora did notice. 

“How about that weather?” she asked sheepishly, lamest comeback ever. Pauna focused on her latest ‘project’, Daisy simply rolled her eyes, poking at the split. 

The resulting silence allowed the King of Games to breathe and relax. He hadn’t been able to really relax for days on end sometimes. It seemed almost enough to doze off to, but all too soon, he felt his hair being gathered at the back of his head and a tug. “Done!” Pauna exclaimed, flourishing a miniature mirror for him to look at himself with. “Take a look see.” Turning his head left and right, Yugi stared at his own reflection. Somehow, someway, she managed to turn his trademark spikes into a single, although pointy, ponytail gathered on the back of his head. “Now I recommend you wash your hair tonight, get as much of that gel out as you can. Conditioner too. The ends are splitting because of how little you brush it. See if you can ask someone to just brush it out for you, if you don’t feel comfortable trying it out for yourself.” Placing the used hairbrush in his hand, Pauna rolled her haircare kit back up, tossing it back to Zecora to bag it. “Don’t worry about the brush, they’re really cheap, and I’m not one to go and buy the expensive stuff when I can make do without name brands.” Unable to really form words presently, Yugi bowed his head in thanks, then got to his feet. It felt so strange to have his hair gathered on the back of his head. She had left his bangs alone, although trying to brush them had separated them from five into about fifteen, including the one in the middle of his forehead. Zecora smiled at the result once she placed the beret on his head.. “See? Told you, Pauna’s a haircare wiz.” “Aww shucks, I’m not tha’ good.” Pauna scratched the back of her head modestly. “Your accent’s showing again.” “Oh jeez. Z, that is so… wrong!” Zecora giggled, patting her friend’s shoulder. “Pauna’s from the Bronx, and doesn’t want anyone to know.” she whispered in Yugi’s ear. His eyes widened briefly in confusion. What was the difference, besides accent? Both places were in America, right?

“Anyways…. where are you lovebirds off to?” Pauna teased, grinning when Zecora glowered. 

“I offered to accompany him and show him to the American Museum of Natural History.” she answered icily. Apparently teasing about being a lovebird struck a cord. Pauna nodded. 

“I’m gonna make sure Daisy doesn't eat herself into a sugar coma, and go pick up the homework we missed for study hall. Guess I’ll see you Monday?” 

“Deal. Text me if you two want to meet for coffee.” Pauna waved them off, returning to the table. Daisy gave her an upwards eyeroll before pushing the half finished sundae away. “ ‘M full.” she muttered. Pauna sighed, passed the sundae off to the empty table next to them, than patted Daisy’s shoulder.

“Like I’ve been telling you all day girl, just get over it. He’s not the right one, never was.” Daisy pouted, resting her chin on her hand. “ I ‘now, bu’ ‘e wa’ cut’.” she mumbled. “Tho’ ‘e wa’ righ’ on’.” (Translation: I know, but he was cute. Though he was the right one.) “Come on, let’s get going. I for one want those study hall notes and you’re not going to fail again.” Pauna practically steered her friend back to school, avoiding any ice cream stands along the way, lest Daisy acquire another craving for a banana split. 

~

“You have unusual friends.” Zecora looked over at the teenager who no longer needed to be steered, and he actually spoke this time. “Why does she not want anyone to know she is from the… Bronx?”

“It’s a New York/New Jersey rivalry thing. I’m not too sure about it, but she always gets embarrassed when she starts talking in her normal speech dialect. That’s why she talks ‘valley girl’ most of the time, and it makes my skin crawl.” Zecora explained. 

“The girl with the banana split?”

“Daisy is the acting ‘valley girl’. She went through a rather lightly dramatic breakup this morning, and she copes with bananas and iced tea. Don’t ask why, I have no idea.” he nodded, deep in thought.

“I still don’t understand why you chose to accompany and drag me along to the museum.” 

“If I’m a partial liar, I would say that I’m giving you a reward for catching that bug. If I’m honest… I’m a history buff and most people don’t care about it anymore. They’re so caught up in their technology, that history is in the past for them. You mentioned your grandfather was an archaeologist, so I assumed you were interested in history too, and jumped to conclusions.” What she didn’t expect was for him to chuckle. 

“More than you know, Miss Zecora. More than you know.” Yugi replied with a small smile, pointing at his cartouche. Zecora didn’t understand the statement, but chose not to overstep her boundaries with the stranger more than she already had. You don’t just drag the most famous duelist away from his friends to get his hair tamed and then take him to a museum. What had she been thinking?! What would anyone else think?! ‘Get a hold of yourself Z. Long as you don’t end up on the evening news, you care less on what others think of you.’ she told herself. 

“Here we are! The American Museum of Natural History!” she declared, stopping on the steps before a large building. A banner sprawled the entrance, reading “Where History Comes to Life”. Yugi considered those words briefly. Were they true? Only if he had seen Night at the Museum. Zecora showed him inside, paying his fare without asking, and showing him inside. “Good afternoon!” she called out, jogging to a man dressed in a suit and tie. He had an expression of disdain. 

“I wish I could say the same. All these children running around… ‘Daddy, can I touch the T-Rex?’ No! Can’t anyone read the signs anymore?!” the curator exclaimed in a British accent, gesturing to a young child tugging on his parent’s hands to go see the giant T-Rex skeleton that served as the first piece to see. “Is there anything I can do for you?” he asked her, with the air of her wasting his time. Yugi’s eyes narrowed, he didn’t like this man much by his attitude.

“Are there any new exhibits in the Egyptology Wing?” she asked, gesturing to Yugi who walked up. “My friend is interested in Egypt.” He glowered down at the teen, who held his gaze for all of thirty seconds before the curator looked away. 

“I suppose there’s a new piece or two. Why? Are you another one of those believers?” he asked irritatedly. Yugi stepped forward, intending to look taller than he actually was, since his hair no longer gave a height advantage.

“My grandfather is Solomon Moto. I heard a piece or two he excavated in his youth were being displayed here.” he replied, ice lacing his undertone. The curator’s expression changed rapidly. 

“THE Solomon Moto?! I… I… Um… Yes, well, enjoy the museum!” he hurried away, obviously panicked. 

“Odd guy. He’s usually so moody about the children. He’s so picky about some things, but he at least keeps the place in relatively good order. Wonder why he looked so flustered at your grandpa’s name.” Yugi shrugged, watching the curator disappear into his office and shut the door. “Come on, lets look around.” If he had to hazard a guess, Yugi figured that aside from keeping an eye on the place, the curator had never actually looked around as a visitor to enjoy the exhibits. It only lowered his opinion of the man further. 

The American Museum of Natural History basically encompassed everything seen in the Night at the Museum, when in daytime. From Theodore Roosevelt atop his horse in the hall, to the Huns, to the Easter Island head, to the animal taxidermy exhibits, to the cavemen, to fossils and the Egypt Wing. Zecora picked up a map from the tourists hub in the middle of the room, waving hello to the concierge. “Egypt Wing, Egypt Wing… Ok, it’s this way” she pointed down the hall. “Do you know what specifics that your grandpa excavated?” Yugi shook his head no. 

“I’ll know if I see the name cards usually put with the exhibits.” Zecora nodded, making a beeline to the stairs to see this exhibit. 

Now she wasn’t the biggest history buff, but it did fascinate her. More specifically the British-American history around the time when America fought the War of Independence, and the Knights of Templar. Yes, she watched National Treasure, and the second one. Yes, she found the puzzles fascinating. 

Approaching the stairs, Zecora almost jumped when a dinosaur with an oversized head growled at her. “Do not touch the exhibits!” It was obviously a costume, and didn’t fit right. The upper jaw rested on the wearer’s head, the lower jaw kept shifting around when they moved their short arms. Yugi stared for a minute at the dinosaur, listening to it’s repeated message. 

“Rex Raptor?” he asked. The costume paused, raising its upper jaw to see better. A familiar gravelly voice with a shock of violet bangs stared back at him through foam teeth. 

“Yugi Moto?! What are you doing here?!” he stepped backwards, the overly long tail nearly tripping him. “I could ask the same to you. My friends claimed that Weevil was at the tournament, and likely you were there too.” The dinosaur maniac set his jaw in the shadow of the costume jaw. “So what are you doing here, dressed like a toon?” Zecora peered around him, curious. “I’m a dinosaur!” “Doesn’t make a difference. Why are you here?”

“I...I...I need money, ok?!” he growled at last. “Weevil and I were beaten early in the tournament, so we were going to catch the next plane home. We got mugged by a bunch of people in green school jackets. Weevil pleaded to do anything if they didn’t hurt his bugs, and they sent him to find a textbook. While I got beaten up and all my money was taken!” Turning his head slightly, the two could see a visible black eye forming, and a bruise on his temple. 

“I’ve been asking around for work for days. I came here to ask the guy who runs the place for a job. He said if I wore this and kept people from touching the exhibits that he would pay me. I get paid at closing time, and come back at opening time. In about a week, I should have enough… if I’m not mugged again…” he grumbled, the jaw hiding his face again. “So don’t touch the exhibits!” Zecora felt bad for the poor guy, being humiliated in such a stupid looking costume. 

“We’ll let you get back to work.” Yugi replied, turning back towards the stairs. Zecora reached into her pocket though, pulled out a dollar, and poked it inside the dinosaur’s mouth. “Keep up the good work, Mr Docent.” she called as she hurried to catch up with Yugi. She could hear the shuffling of the dinosaur stuffing the dollar away inside the costume. She didn’t see him turning red as a beet. 

~

Zecora stared up at the giant Jackal Warrior statues that lined the hall into the exhibit. “Jackals are symbols of Anubis, right?” Yugi nodded, noting the chipped paint and other imperfections. 

“These are very good fakes.” he noted simply. “Wait, what?!” Zecora asked, turning to inspect the statues again. 

“On the contrary, they are very much real.” came a soft voice in the semi darkness of the room. “In order to stave off thieves and relic seekers, the statues were aged and given details to appear fake to almost anyone.” Sitting in the semi darkness was a shadowy person. Tall and imposing looking in silhouette, it faced them. “I’m sorry to ask, but it’s awfully dark in here. The light switch is over there. Do you mind? Some children shut off the lights and it’s difficult to see.” It made little sense on why the person didn’t fix the lights themselves, but it took both Yugi and Zecora’s combined efforts to find the elusive light switch. The florescent lights flared to life, putting the room in stark contrast. 

Sitting in the middle of the room on a visitors bench was a tall tanned teenager. His shorter black hair had been gathered into a high ponytail, allowing some to fall into his face. With dark eyes, a feminine face and moderately flashy wardrobe, he looked more at home in a rave, or a desert. Especially with what looked like a replica of an Egyptian necklace collar around his neck. 

“Thank you. It’s much easier to read now.” he replied with an accent that sounded so darn familiar to Yugi that he could not help but stare. “Are you two here to see the exhibits?”

“Yeah. My friend here came to see if any of his grandfather’s excavations made it here. Maybe you know something. Does the name… uh…” she looked back to the ponytailed duelist for help. 

“My grandfather’s name is Solomon Moto.” Yugi replied. The teen’s face brightened. 

“Yes, yes, I know of that name. He aided in the discoveries of some of the lost tombs in the Valley of the Kings over the last 50 years before he retired.” he pointed towards the far wall “A few relics that he dug up were brought here. I fear its limited though, as the Egyptian  Supreme Council of Antiquities is gathering up a number of artifacts to bring home.” He watched them inspecting the artifacts around the room. 

“How do you know of my grandfather?” Yugi asked, turning back to the seated individual. “I studied at Cambridge University, and he with a certain Professor Arthur Hawkins came to lecture for an archaeology conference. I attended that conference. He wasn’t hard to miss.” he answered. “You’re his grandson, I take it?” “Yes, my name is Yugi Moto.” “A pleasure. My name is Ahkmenrah, but call me Renrah. Forgive me for not standing, I would shake your hand if I was able.” Attention had been directed to the stranger again. Yugi was surprised to see splints on both of the teen’s shins, held fast with ace bandages. 

“Your name is identical to the mummy here…” Zecora voiced, peering into the glass case that housed the sarcophagus. Renrah chuckled. 

“I hear that a lot if someone ends up knowing my full name. My theory is that my parents wanted me to be named after someone important, so they chose a famous pharaoh.” “What did you do to your legs?” he sighed, shifting to turn around and look at her. 

“Snowboarding accident. The doctor didn’t want me to be jumping back on the board as soon as my casts were off, so I’m stuck in splints and crutches for another few weeks.” Zecora noticed no crutches in sight though, and made the point. “I mentioned that children were here earlier. It seems that visitors don’t watch them so much anymore, and they ran off with my crutches and left me in the dark.” “That’s terrible!” “I’ll be fine, I called my family and when they come to get me tonight at closing, they’ll bring my spare set of crutches.” 

“Why do you have to wait until closing time?” “I’m another one of those ‘paid docents’. I’m making a bit of pocket money since I can sit here and act as a tour guide for the wing. However, unlike the poor buffoon in the dinosaur costume upstairs, I at least can keep my dignity.” 

Seeking to change the subject, Renrah pointed out Yugi’s visible cartouche. “I see that doesn’t have your name on it…” Looking down at the pendant, Yugi’s eyes dulled again as he answered. “It belonged to an important friend. He had a double made when getting the original, and gave it to me. He’s… very far away now.” “I’m sorry, it appears I’ve upset your friend.” Renrah told Zecora, who gave the poor hatted duelist a sympathetic look. “I’m fine.” Yugi lied through his teeth, looking around the room again. “Since we’re here… we might as well look around.” Zecora nodded. “If you have any questions… feel free to ask. It is my job to be your guide throughout this wing.” Renrah replied.

“I’ve got a question. What is the importance of those Jackal Warrior statues?” Zecora asked. Renrah spent the next fifteen minutes talking about the warrior statues symbolizing Anubis, Lord of Embalming. He briefly elaborated on the embalming process as it was important to understanding why the statues were there. Every now and then, Yugi would add his own knowledge to the deluge of information. “The warrior statues were placed inside the Pharaoh’s tomb to protect him on his way to the afterlife, and guard his body after the Weighing of the Hearts is complete.” he finished. “Wow. Didn’t know there was so much history behind these.” Zecora breathed in awe, bowing her head in respect to the statue. Renrah chuckled. “I’m pleased that you are satisfied. Not too many people find my talks very entertaining. They usually start poking around m- ah, the sarcophagus, and I have to poke them away with a crutch or a staff.” He prayed inwardly that these two weren’t sharp enough to catch the correction. 

“It was a pleasure hearing about the exhibits Renrah. I think we’ll be going now.” Yugi nodded in response, shaking the teen’s hand and heading back up the stairs. Zecora handed him a dollar, and raced after him. Waving them off, Renrah sighed, looking back down at the brochure in his lap that wasn’t paid attention to. 

A clashing sound of odd noises came from his jacket pocket, he pulled out a cheap cell phone and flipped it open. “Good evening young master Nicholas.” “Ahkmenrah, I told you, just Nick. Really, if you’re gonna pull this off, you need to drop the formalities.” “My apologies. Has the day gone well for you?” “Eh, so-so. Middle school has its low points, especially math.” “Did you ask your father about getting some help?” “He’s on that trip to the other Museums, and should be back sooner than later.” “I hope so. The other exhibits miss him. Theodore Roosevelt has to keep order without him, but it’s mostly quiet.” “Did you find out yet why you’re able to stay… well… alive while the sun’s up?” “Likely with my wing being underground with no sun allows me to move around more often during the day, should I have been able. I am still researching.” “Yeah, Dad thought the splints and crutches would at least get the curator to buy you not being an exhibit come to life. He’d flip out. Oh, mom wants me to get some chores done. I’ll drop by the museum soon. Later Renrah.” “Goodbye.” Closing the phone, Renrah stared at the wall in silent thought. Why was he the only one able to resist the spell of his own tablet? So very strange… Plus that young man in the hat had an air of power around him. Faint, but once great power….

~

By the time Zecora and Yugi had browsed the entire museum, the sun was starting to set. 

“What time is it…” she muttered, fishing out her telephone to check the time. “7pm?! Oh jeez. I’m sorry about doing this. Your friends must be worried sick.” Yugi shook his head. 

“No, I told them where I was and that we would meet back at the hotel.” he told her simply. “How far are you from home?” 

“15 minutes if on foot. Which hotel were you staying at around the convention center?”

“Conrad New York, I believe.” Yugi checked the address with his phone’s browser. 

“That’s not too far from where I live…” 

“I take it you would like me to accompany you home?” he asked, watching Zecora’s cheeks redden. She looked down at her feet again. 

“New York’s got quite the night life, but it’s always safer to travel in a group. Besides, I’m starving and I owe you for letting me drag you along to the museum.” 

“No, you don’t owe me anything.” Yugi interrupted her. “I will walk you home than catch a taxi to the hotel.” Zecora considered this proposal, than nodded in affirmation. 

“Fair enough. Be careful and check the prices that the taxis charge. Some drivers are crooks and will rob you of every cent in a few miles.” 

She managed to drag Yugi off course once to a little street cart, buying two ‘walking pizza pies’ for them. Zecora claimed that he ‘had to try some native New York style pizza before going home’. Cheese and pepperoni with olives and peppers wrapped up in the pie dough. She called the thing a ‘calzone’. Watching Yugi examine the strange edible object became a source of amusement before she pointed out that he was to simply bite into it. 

Before long, Zecora stopped in front of a contemporary set of apartments. She picked a piece of paper out of her bookbag, scribbling down a number and tearing it in half. “Here, you write your number, and this one’s mine. If you want me to show you the Intrepid, just send me a text. Not before 9am though, if you can help it.” Yugi nodded, holding the piece of paper against his palm with two fingers as he jotted down his number in awkward English numbers. Passing it to her, he bowed his head in thanks. 

“Thank you for accompanying me. It’s been awhile since I’ve had a casual walk around the city. Good evening to you, Zecora.” Hailing a taxi, Yugi gestured a wave to her, and climbed inside the taxi. She saw him telling the driver where to go, and with that, the legendary duelist was gone. 

‘Well, that’s got to be one of the more exciting days of my life.’ Zecora considered as she let herself into the complex with a card key. ‘Perhaps we’ll meet again in the future’. How right she was.


	3. Fossilized

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the sun goes down, three different encounters happen, with different results.

The authoress apologizes for any butchery of Australian accents, any comments of how to properly abbreviate words for the accent is appreciated.

 

Somewhere in Lower Manhattan near 10pm, a door opened up to reveal a not-so-wanted visitor on a doorstep.

“You again? I thought you were going back to that crazy school.” the tenant muttered as she allowed the visitor inside. She clutched a thick red wrap around herself, dressed in thick blue pajamas to ward off the cold with matching bunny slippers. The visitor crouched to examine the delicate skeleton model of a monkey on the foyer table. 

“Beau’y, ‘e is. ‘s it real, o’ a replica?” he turned to the tenant in a teasing manner. She massaged the bridge of her nose in frustration.

“Replica. It’s a puzzle, actually. I enjoy the puzzles with putting together bones, just like the digs.” she gazed at the visitor with another deep sigh. “I thought you went home Jim.” Jim chuckled, crouched on one knee and unbuckled Shirley from his back. The crocodile stared at the tenant who flattened against the wall in fear, but simply ambled down the hall as if she owned the place. “Don’ worry ‘bout yerself Sheila, Shirley’s the passiv’ sort. Won’t attack long as she ain’t provok’d.” he told her simply, entering the kitchen. For a two bed one bath flat, it wasn’t that small, with a decently sized kitchen opening up into the den. Jim took a seat at the tiny dining room table, setting his hat aside. “D’ ye go’ any wat’r ‘r club soda?” he asked. Shirley took up residence beneath the table, closing her eyes and assumingly pretending to be asleep. The tenant opened the fridge up as she entered the kitchen, tossing him a bottle of water. “Missed ya ‘Lexi.” he told her simply, twisting off the plastic cap and taking a number of large swigs. Lexi grumbled a reply, bringing out a dark bottle of hard cider for herself. Popping off the cap, she took a sip of the strong liquid, setting it on the counter. 

“Any particular reason you’re in town?” she asked simply, pushing her goldenrod bangs out of her eyes. 

“Wo’ld ye believe tha’ I go’ lost in the city an’ cou’dn’t find the ‘otel?” he asked sheepishly. She didn’t smile at this, but quirked an eyebrow before taking another sip of cider. “I wen’ to the M’se’m o’ Nat’ral Hist’ry t’day, and go’ lost on ‘he way back. Hones’ truth.” he held up his free hand in surrender. “‘eard ther’ wa’ a good fossil exhibit on displa’ so I wen’ to see it.” 

“Figures that the fossil expert would go to the Natural History Museum to see the latest digs.” Lexi swung around the island to stand behind Jim’s chair. She rested her crossed wrists upon his head, flattening out his pointed hairstyle slightly. “And you got lonely after getting lost, did you?”

“Na’, realiz’d I was near yer place an’ came t’ visit. Long time no see.” he glanced upwards at her. “Any new digs t’ hear ‘bout?” 

Lexi thought a moment, running long fingers through his hair. She felt him shiver at the touch of having his hair finger combed like this, but start to relax. They found that relaxing him loosened his tongue easier than inhibiting his thought process with alcohol on the dig they participated in together last. 

“The Black Hills dig found some new skeletons pretty deep in the riverbed where they’ve been looking for amber. I think they were various species though. Perhaps a multispecies colony along some water source.” 

“Mmm…” Jim muttered, tilting his head back slightly. The repeated motions of fingers running through his hair made him feel sleepy and relaxed. “Colony, eh? Nice find. Why th’ amber tho’?”

“Some kind of DNA experiments, I’m not too sure what. I think they’ve got one or two running in the labs at the Institute of Technology.” 

“Migh’ have to take a look-see for m’self than. You sho’ld become a masseuse, this is one o’ a kind…” he muttered, sounding half asleep. Lexi chuckled, patting his head lightly before drawing away. 

“Do you want fresh bandages for your eye?” she asked, returning to the cider. She hadn’t seen the injury herself but he had shown very specifically that he was blind on one side and that he didn’t take well to surprises on that side to the others on the project. 

“mmm sure.” It didn’t take long for Lexi to locate the bandages and to start unraveling the dirty linen strips from around her friend’s head. “When was the last time you changed your bandages?” she asked him, with the air of a mother telling off a child. 

“‘bout a month ago, I think.”

“No, no no, you need to change them every few days. You’ll lose that eye to infection otherwise-” Lexi’s words trailed off when the bandages fell away. Jim looked at her with both eyes. One green, the other a golden eye with a red pupil implant. It almost resembled a falcon’s eye. The scar from the injury could be seen crossing his cheek downwards from the artifact.

“Its called an Orichalcum Eye. I got it when I was a kid, an’ saved Shirley from a trap.” he told her simply. “It’s no secret, but don’ go spreadin’ it around tha’ I have this.” she nodded simply, handing over a damp washcloth and a bottle of antiseptic that also came with the packages of bandages. “It doesn’ hurt nearly ‘s much as when I firs’ got it though.” he told her simply. “‘ealthy eye, just a bi’ differen’.” 

“Doesn’t matter if its an eye of whoswhatsit or simply dust. Clean the injury and I’ll rewrap it for you.” Lexi told him sternly, one hand on her hip with a scowl on her face. 

“No wond’r I fell fer ye’ when I was at the Acad’my.” he smirked at her, pouring a bit of antiseptic on the cloth and dabbing around the eye. “Wit’ the way you look aft’r folks, being a mum will be no pr’blem for you.” Lexi flushed red, disappearing into the bathroom to take the rest of the first aid supplies back once he finished with them. Although he would never admit it, Jim had used his eye only once on her. He never really did discern what he saw either. 

“Everyone took you seriously when you claimed you were blind on that side. Why hide the whowhatsit eye?”

“S’me people panic’ when they ‘ear of magic pow’rs. This eye has some spec’al prop’rties. Saved a friend’s life wh’n I used this eye.” he told her simply. Lexi paused, reminiscing. What he said wasn’t entirely true, but they were friends with the same person that remained unnamed. Carefree, enigmatic, childish, and her ex to boot. Jim realized by her silence that this still was sensitive grounds, and changed the subject. “Is coll’ge treatin’ you well?” she nodded, approaching to start rewrapping the eye. “Its ok Lex, I’ll let it air out t’night.” he told her simply, adjusting his posture in the wooden chair slightly. His boot slightly nudged Shirley, who growled from under the table. 

“I forgot about you.” Lexi bent on one knee next to the table, extending her hand out to the crocodile. Shirley’s nostrils flared, taking in her scent, glancing annoyed eyes up at her master. “Good girl Shirley…” The crocodile knew that her master found this woman a good character, a potential mate. She bumped her snout against the girl’s hand, retreating back under the table to watch her carefully. Her master might like her, but the ancient dinosaur relative had a twinge of jealousy. Just a twinge though, she might be a smart croc, but no sentient human. 

“Firs’ time I’ve seen Shirley take so well to an’ther girl. She must think you’re a good person.” Jim observed, his head tilted sideways to watch his family interact with Lexi. 

“Reptilian character sensor, never would have thought of it.” she teased, climbing to her feet. “Y’know, Hassleberry never got over the fact that she bit him. Still claims he has nightmares with a crocodile attached to his butt.” Jim chuckled. 

“You’re still in contac’ with mos’ blokes fr’m that school, aren’t cha?” she nodded. 

“They’re all my friends Jim, no matter how far we are away. And I know for a fact you have never Skyped with all of us. It’s a riot when we can start a drinking game over the net.”

“Ar’nt half of ya still underage?” 

“I’m 18 as of last week Jim. In Japan, it’s the legal drinking age.”

“Yeh, but this is America. Gotta be 21 ‘ere.” Lexi opened her mouth to retort, but changed her mind. “So if you valu’ tha’ liver of yours, put the cid’r away. Its bad for y’ur health.” Admitting defeat, Lexi put the half finished hard cider back into the fridge. 

“Have you not been near a computer or something?” she pointed back to her previous statement. She started running her fingers back through his hair when she approached again. 

“I…’ve nev’r Skyped wi’h anyone bef’re.” he finally confessed. 

“Video chat fossil boy, its video chat.” Jim would have shaken his head no, but the entrancing effects of being massaged were fogging his thought processes.

‘Darn pressure points on me head.’ the lazy thought crossed his mind. 

“Well, it’s pretty late, so I suppose you can stay on the couch tonight.” she mused quietly in his ear. “I’m not about to drop you out in the cold with your sense of direction.” 

“Low blow there, Sheila.” he muttered simply, placing his hat over his face. “Low blow…” before long, she had massaged him to sleep.

“Sleep tight fossil boy.” she patted his shoulder. Being a moderately gracious hostess, she tossed a throw over him, placed a pillow on the table and laid out a towel for Shirley. The croc shuffled slowly to the towel, curling up with a purring growl. Lexi draped one more towel over the reptile, shut off the lights and finally went to bed. 

~

All over the city, folks were either getting ready for bed, or going off to work the graveyard shifts. When Yugi’s friends finally went inside their hotel room, it was well past midnight. The main sitting room had light from the electric fireplace and nothing else, casting distorted shadows of the armchairs. They would find Yugi sound asleep in one chair, the guidebook of New York open on his lap. A silent conversation of pointing and making gestures of ‘I don’t know’ or ‘Shh...’ went on until Mai had to literally drag off Joey and Tristan by the ear. Tea would make sure her friend was comfortable with a throw from the couch and turning in for the night as well. They would make sure to bother him into how the heck he had managed to jam a hat on his spiky head in the morning. 

~

Elsewhere in the city, a shrill scream shattered the peace of the night. Sitting bolt upright in her bed, a black haired woman sat flat against the corner of the wall that met up with the bed, clutching the covers to her chest with wide terrified eyes. Two men burst into the room with exclamations of “Sister!” and “Ishizu!” The shorter paler man rushed to her, hugging the woman. “What’s wrong sister?!” he cried to her. Whatever she saw seemed to have faded when she looked at him. He had never seen her like this, so terrified. Even back then… never this badly. She buried her face in his shoulder, tears running unchecked. He was alright. They were both alright…. The taller man entered slower, giving both his siblings a gentle, yet concerned look. 

It took several minutes of standing there and letting her cry to finally calm their sister down. When it appeared that she had fallen back asleep, both brothers backed out of the room, closing the door behind them. 

“Odion, I’ve never seen her like this… What should I do?” the paler man asked his brother before beginning to pace the hall. Odion simply watched his brother pacing, considering his words. 

“I fear that she is suffering from overwork again Master Marik. Those nightmares seem to surface when she is under mental stress.” he spoke in a deep, quiet voice. 

“Please don’t make me have to tell you not to call me Master Odion. You’re my brother, not a servant…” Marik sighed, running a hand through his wild pale blond hair. “I just… I don’t know how to convince her not to work such long hours.” Combing his hair again with his fingers, he continued to pace. With all that their family had seen, experienced and done, it was a surprise with the reaction of their sister having a nightmare. “What should I do Odion… what if…” 

“Marik” Odion spoke with a finality in his voice “Ishizu is a strong woman. If our sister needs us, she will tell us. You are turning a molehill into a mountain, as the saying goes. Go back to bed, I will make sure she gets some rest.” He raised a hand, silencing any budding retort his younger brother was about to make “Go get some rest, Marik.”  Blowing out a sigh and running his fingers through his hair again, Marik conceded, going back to his room. Odion sighed a bit, feeling a pang of remorse for having to convince his brother to sleep like that. He would sit in a chair in front of their sister’s door for the next hour or so, until he believed it safe enough to go back to sleep himself. The slight unease he felt at seeing their sister, the calmest and usually most level-headed in such a state would not leave him as a mental image. What had she seen to scare her so badly?


	4. The Madness of #9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akira's newest assignment has a shady business dealings vibe, and the Yugioh gang go tourist on the town.

The Madness of #9

For the most part, the series of tasks that Juiz and the people behind her assigned were not hard. Just… difficult in certain areas. These difficulties usually ended up giving Akira a week or two of limping. You’d think he’d learned to dodge a bullet by now? Nooo… The muscles atop his left foot, wrapping around the ankle spasmed as he adjusted the speed pedal of his motorcycle, making his way down the mainstream of New York traffic. Granted, the school nurse told him he was lucky the bullet hadn’t torn his ACL, or he’d be in worse shape. The boy knew it wasn’t very professional or polite to think this, but the woman was a sweetheart for at least patching him up after a job without telling the school board or the authorities. Maybe Saki had something to do with it, he didn’t know. If he asked, she would likely heavily deny it, but… the extent of Eden was growing. 

He had gone to the specified location where Juiz had instructed him to go, where a man roughly bumped into him, and passed off a wrapped message. Simply put, the code it was written in said ‘Your mission is to find out what is going on at the Smithsonian Institute. Dark rumors are spreading and we want visual evidence of what is going on in the Museum of Natural History. You have a week to complete this. Payment will be wired as soon as the evidence is in our hands. Good luck. Noblesse Oblige.’ 

In a nutshell, this job to investigate the goings on of the Smithsonian could have been what triggered it all, if he looked back on it. Some things shouldn’t be trifled with. Especially the creation of life. 

~

It started off similar to any spy movie. Breaking into a building from the roof, crawling through the air ducts, dropping down into a presumably empty room. When Akira dropped out of the air duct to land in a crouch… He didn’t consider to bring along a special spray to locate lasers. The air smelled rather strange though… He didn’t even consider the idea of the museum being booby trapped. Heck, he got lost in the air duct systems more than once trying to make his way down to the basement. Trying each door, Akira found them locked. He wasn’t stupid though, and had brought lockpicks. By the time the lock clicked open, his mind was swimming. Why hadn’t he thought that this place might be booby trapped? It was a museum… he blacked out before the thought finished crossing from one side of the brain to the other. 

When he came to, his head pounded painfully from a budding migraine. Shadowed figures milling around in the gloom of his not so great nightvision. The broad form of someone came close, and he heard words. He couldn’t answer, the words wouldn’t come. He tried to rise, but his arms were tied up behind him to a chair. Each leg bound to a chair leg, and he was gagged. Not blindfolded though. The face swum into view… a muscular man with a thick 5 o'clock shadow and a flag bandanna around his head. 

“Well look what the cat dragged in. Some little rat who got too close to the cheese.” he sneered, towering over the teen. As his mind cleared a bit, but still pounded from some unknown cause, probably hitting the pavement face first when he fainted… Akira glowered at him. He did not like this man’s tone. Not to mention the heavy smell of whiskey. “Who sent ya, punk?” he asked. Someone outside of Akira’s sight pointed out that the boy couldn’t answer him with a cloth stuffed down his throat. “Ye’right.” the man grunted, removing the gag roughly. Akira coughed a few times, his throat was dry from being barely able to swallow. “I’ll ask you again, who sent you.” 

“ ‘m a tourist…” Akira mumbled vaguely. “Got lost…” The man grimaced at him. “Tourists don’t go crawlin’ around in vent pipes. You’ve got vent dust all over you.” Well, there went that explanation. “I’m not a patient guy, so if you like your face the way it is, you’ll cough up where you came from.” Akira smirked at him, a glint of ‘bite me’ in his eye. WHAP His head snapped sideways from the force of the man’s slap. He glanced back at him, and gave him a smile, showing red teeth. He must’ve bit his tongue when he had collapsed. “I already told you” he rasped. “I’m a tourist. If you wanted my money, all you needed to do was ask like a good boy.” 

“You little ****!” the man snarled, and hit him again, this time in the gut. 

“What are you doing!” one shorter man shuffled up to him. “Don’t you recognize this guy?”

“Why should I?” the bandana’d man rounded on the minion.

“He’s the A-Air King!”

“Air who?”

“Air King. He’s from across the sea, apparently saved his country from a missile attack.” Surprised, the man turned back to the kid in the chair. This little runt, saving a country? Couldn’t be. Hm… an idea came to him. “Look kid, we’re looking for information as to what happened with that little thing that happened. What was it? Careless Monday? Yeah, thats right. Rumor has it that the Air King could supply information that could help point out the culprits.” He stared right at him with a leering smile. “Whadaya say, got something worth my time?” 

Akira shook his head back and forth in a ‘no’ manner. “I have nothing. No idea what you’re talking about.” Couldn’t they see the blank look in his eyes when they mentioned it? The man didn’t seem convinced though. “‘corse you do. Why would you be carrying this little trinket around?” He suddenly had the overly advanced phone, tossing it up and down in the air. The teen tried to rise, to break loose. “Now we’re gettin’ somewhere. Info for your phone.” 

“I know nothing!” he rasped again. “Nothing…” the words trailed away. It really got hard to focus… the man punched him in the temple. Again in the gut… When the man finally stood up, Akira lay on his side, still attached to the chair. The heavy smell of blood, sweat and whiskey saturated the air. He could hear arguing in the fog of his consciousness… He didn’t remember… he couldn’t… “Sorry...Saki…” he mumbled thickly, and didn’t speak again. ‘Guess I’ll be late tonight…’

Towering over the fallen child, the man seemed to be arguing with his employer, an older man with a thick cane. The cane pointed and gesticulated for making points, than was leaned upon again. 

“Look, you hired me as security, I’m doing my job old man.” the muscular man growled. The cane thunked angrily.

“What I see, Mr. Keith, is your willingness to injure innocent people.” Tall, gray, and imposing, the older man wore a starched gray suit, dressed strictly for business. “You are security to guard the project, nothing else.” 

“Its mah business when some little snot comes wandering where they don’t belong!”

“Thats where you let ME handle matters.” The man pointed his cane towards the child on the floor. “You do not beat them to the point of half dead.” 

“Let me do my job old man, you do your little project.” The man called Keith rounded on his prey, cracking his knuckles. “Looks like the little punk couldn’t handle the questions.”

A deep sigh, then… “I really hate to lose a gifted fist, but you are uncontrollable.” Keith froze at the impact, a thick, almost treelike cane smashed into the point where his spine connected neck and back. He toppled like a tree. The older man stood over him with a sour expression. “Put him away for now, let him cool his head and sober up.” he told the employee who squeaked and shot forward to drag the offending individual away. The old man sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in irritation. Why was good help hard to find now?! Turning his attention to the matter at hand, he called out two employees. 

“Yeh boss, what can we do’ya?” 

“This child is an unfortunate accident. See to it that he makes it back to his tour group. I don’t care how.” The minion picked up the fallen phone, examining it.

“Boss, yeh think this would sell?”   
“No you imbecile, place it back in his pocket. What would you think if you walked in and saw this?”

“Mm… ‘e got mugged fer his money.”

“Just deal with it, and clean up the blood. They’re very sensitive to the smell of blood.” The old man turned and walked away, a resounding thunk every few steps…

~

 

Since he was younger, the King of Games could be assumed to be a heavy sleeper. If he were tired enough, not even a stampede of elephant sized Joeys would wake him. These days, he seemed to be sleeping lighter. Enough so that one loud clattering of an iron skillet and a chorus of shouting at 9am woke him from a relatively sound sleep. More shouting… someone catching someone with their hand (or the skillet) and a upset retort over the strike. Drawing the comforter closer over himself, Yugi appeared to be a snow capped lump in the chair, one eye staring half dazedly towards the kitchen as his brain sifted through the morning routine of awakening. The lingering scent of an overcooked breakfast, and two, maybe three people arguing over said burned food. ‘At least the fire alarm hadn’t gone off yet’, he thought. 

Tristan however, saw the movement in the armchair, shushing the arguing pair loudly. “Can it already, you waking Yugi up!” he hissed, tilting his head past the open bar to the chair. Silence, but Joey and Mai pointed at each other with a ‘he/she started it’ mouthed towards each other. Sometimes, he wondered how he put up with his best friend so long this early in the morning. He couldn't cook. Suppressing a sigh, the tall brunette stooped to gather the remains of the overcooked food and disposed of it in the garbage. “Just order room service.” he muttered as quietly as he could, opening the fridge up to fish out the carton of juice. 

“Did Joey try cooking again?” His sister poked her head around the corner. Her bedhead looked impressive, almost beautiful. “I told you big brother, room service is really good. You said their pizza and burgers were good yesterday.” 

“I want’d teh surprise Mai and Yug’ with a homecooked meal.” he explained, tossing his hands in the air. “Didn’t think it would catch like that.” A trio of heavy sighs, their friend could burn water on some days. 

A strange melody echoed through the kitchen at that moment, loud and clear in the silence. Shocked, the game of ‘not me’ seemed to be going through everyone’s heads. A shuffling, and the trill grew louder until it stopped. A series of beeps drew their attention to the shuffling armchair. Yugi’s head emerged from the comforter, staring at the screen of his phone. They hadn’t heard that melody before. The smell of overcooked food caused Serenity to sneeze a bit, catching his attention. “Uh… mornin’ Yug. Breakfast?” A quirked eyebrow, silence than… he nodded, turning his attention back to the phone.  Hi there, its Zecora. Y’know, the crazy girl from the museum? If you want to do the Smithsonian, let me know. I’ll be your guide, as I’ve been there before. Um… yeah. Your friends aren’t giving you too much problem about a stranger packing you to a museum, right? As he read the small screen, a series of small emotions, only ones that his friends for years could see flitting through his eyes. Surprise, embarrassment, gratitude, and a smidge of amusement. What on earth… who on earth was texting him at 9 freakin’ AM?! Apparently someone he wouldn’t mind replying to, in a half conscious state.  I take it you are an early riser… He tapped the send button, looking back at his friends. “Coffee” he said simply. It wasn’t quite a request, not quite a ‘Give me now’ demand. Luckily for him, Joey had enough sense to make a batch this morning, not quite half an hour ago. He sidled over, passing over a hotel style mug to his friend. “It ain’t as fresh as could be, but it should tide you over till breakfast.” he said cheerfully. Nodding his thanks, Yugi took a sip of the liquid of the gods, the caffeine waking up his groggy brain. The phone trilled again with a reply.  Oh jeez, did I wake you up? I’m SO sorry! I didn’t think that you might be suffering from not sleeping, or jet lag, or anything else. Are you mad?! The ghost of a smile flitted over his face as he replied again.  I have coffee, I’ll survive. I am not mad, just… waking up. I would like to see the Intrepid. Did you want to meet halfway? Joey craned his neck over the back of the chair, but the idea that he didn’t have to peer over his friend’s hair to see… the phone powered down as soon as he tried to look. “So Yug’, how’d that crazy girl get a hat on you anyway? You mentioned a hairbrush…” he tried to change the subject from trying to peek at the phone. 

“We encountered her friend who deals with troublesome hair on a frequent basis. She managed to brush it into a ponytail.” he explained slowly, removing the beret and turning his head a bit. Besides the multitude of blonde bangs, it looked like a black and red spike jutting out behind his head. “She wants me to not use hair gel anymore.” 

“Wat?! You’ve had your hair like that since… since I’ve known ya. Why change it now?!” He glanced up at his friend. Yugi couldn’t forget that when they had been nearly drowned several years ago, when they left the water, not a hair was out of place. That’s how much gel he’d used over the years. “Sleeping with a spike jutting into the back of your skull isn’t exactly the most comfortable…” the ‘duh’ tone of his friend’s voice seemed to finalize that he wasn’t going to be easily able to be talked out of it. “Uh yeah. We were wonderin’ how you got that hat on, but didn’ wanna wake ya.” Joey had a good point though. He had kept his hair tall and spiky to give him extra height since grade school. Initially it would be difficult to get by without his trademark, but… everything ended up changing at one point or another. Taking a swig of coffee, Yugi composed himself somewhat. “I’m making arrangements to visit the Intrepid Museum today. If you wish to come along, you may-” he held up a hand before anyone started babbling “However, if you choose not to, the young lady who showed me to the Museum of Natural History more than likely would be willing to accompany me again.” Either come along, or continue doing what they actually liked to do; sightsee. Joey opened his mouth to say something, but Mai crossed the kitchen to catch him by the ear, earning an indignant squawk. 

“You’re not fooling anyone with the ‘either come or go’ act Yugi.” she declared, one manicured hand on her hip and a scowl on her face. “You’ve been playing the zombie act long enough. These loons would accompany you off a cliff if you asked them right, then pull you back up. Don’t pretend that you’re alone. If you want to go alone, than go! Don’t ask, you’re a man, so act like one!” Mornings did not suit her, as the blonde duelist released Joey’s ear, stalked back towards the coffee maker and poured herself a strong cup. She glared at Joey, daring him silently to at least show some guts and back her up a bit. 

“Mai’s right Yug’. If you wanna go explore alone, then we’re ok with it. If Tea has a problem, she can tell you outright. Go have fun. We’ll meet you someplace for lunch, huh?” He wasn’t stupid, the signs were there, just… easily overlooked. Yugi wasn’t very appreciative of the attempts to not mention things that upset him presently. He watched his best friend simply blink and stare, then finally smile. The first real smile in weeks. 

“Thank you.” he flipped open the phone to find a reply.  Halfway works better since you’re a bit farther than I am. Lets meet at the Chrysler building. Its huge, can’t miss it. Your friends might want to see that if they end up tagging along. 12 noon sound good? He googled the Chrysler building’s address, and its distance from the Smithsonian… yes, that would work. “There’s a landmark that I’ll be passing that might be of some interest. The Chrysler building.” he mentioned. The guidebook was passed over, flipped through… 

“Yeah, yeah, that’s a cool place. Whatdaya say Tristan? Shall we take the girls to see Broadway?” He grinned at the horrified look on his friend’s face which got wiped quickly. “Only as long as we aren’t doing too much shopping.” Tristan replied, tapping his shoulders with a fist. “My muscles still ache with how much we end up carrying.” 

“If that isn’t the biggest load of BS I’ve ever heard, I might end up dating Kaiba.” Tea poked her head out of the adjacent room. “We don’t shop that much.” 

“Mai can and will.” “Do you know how little we get to actually shop on these outings Tea? I say we splurge and they carry ALL OF IT.” The mischievous glint in the older woman’s eye was contagious. Yugi chuckled, and glanced down to reply.  I will meet you there. Interesting day it would be indeed, as he disentangled himself from the blankets and started to get ready. The girls surrounded him briefly once he had showered, dressed and stared blankly in the mirror, his hair damp and hanging around his face, grinning with combs and brushes in hand. 

When he managed to pull away at last, the change to his looks probably made the news. Instead of a heavily gelled star shape, the legendary duelist had his hair down, and pulled loosely to the back of his head. The ends shone reddish purple in the light of the hotel room, with his blonde bangs parted so he could see. “I wasn’t aware how long it had really become…” he mumbled, fingering a lock over his shoulder in mild… shock really. 

“Migh’ need a beacon on you Yug’, since you don’t stand out so much anymore.” Joey joked, only to recoil with several glares. 

“Don’t listen to him Yugi, you look fabulous!” Mai swatted his shoulder politely, then gave him a little push to find a nice jacket to accent his hair. Considering how red in the face Tea was, it must’ve been nice. Or jealousy.

~

High noon rolled around, the workers of Broadway spilling into the streets of NYC on search of a quick meal to highlight the day. Carrying a small satchel purse rather than her bookbag, Zecora dressed herself as touristy as should could manage. Pauna had tried to pawn off some shirts on her that wouldn’t fit, but she wasn’t fond of cleavage, and that much skin showing while walking in NYC is asking for trouble. Also a good reason to know how to disarm a person with a knife. Regardless, she scanned the foot traffic for that familiar white beret which went home with her new acquaintance the previous night. Fed, caffeinated, and ready for adventure. It wasn’t until she felt a tap on her shoulder that she whipped around to face her new friend. “Did I surprise you?” he asked out of concern by how quickly she turned around, as if she had been scared.

“No no no no no! I was looking for somethin-” the words somehow died halfway to her brain. Without his extra height, Yugi looked more normalish. About her height, and his hair actually down for once in his life, she bet her rarest cards on that. The beret was perched on his head, but the lack of leather seemed to toss her for a loop. Instead, he opted for a jean jacket, blue jeans and a leather belt, to finish with his silver cartouche. No collar in sight. It too biting her tongue to not blurt out how nice he looked, opting to nod. “You tourist up well. Shall we?” he blinked in confusion, than nodded, almost stilted. “This way!” With that, Zecora towed Yugi into the throng. 

“You think we did the right thing? He didn’t appear that thrilled.” Tristan asked the others as the watched from partway down the block. Thank the gods that his companion’s hair stood out just as much. Like a painted porcupine. “C’mon, give the guy a chance. It’s probably his first time out of with a girl who he didn’t ask out to start with.” Joey said simply. “I think he’ll have fun. He’s history guy. He knows these things better than we do.” With that, Mai snagged him and started towards the nearest department store, saying something loudly about new shoes over loud protests.


	5. "When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yugi and Zecora discover dinosaurs, and Akira digs deeper into the mystery.

All references/original ideas to Jurassic Park anythings belong to their owners

 

“When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth” 

 

“I have to tell you something.” Zecora started as the foot traffic evened out a bit. 

“You’re not confessing deep secrets, are you?” Yugi asked

“No no no. Thing is, the Smithsonian isn’t really a museum. Its an institute of several museums in Washington DC. The Museum of Natural History is one of them. So I was thinking Intrepid Air and Space today?” 

Before Yugi got a chance to answer, his attention appeared diverted to a few people standing a couple of blocks from each other, dressed similar to Indiana Jones, shouting something. “It’s the revival of the park you all knew and loved as children, right here in NYC! Come see When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth at Cretaceous Park!” Zecora paid attention to the advertisers with an almost hostile air for about a millisecond. What were they on about? Her pause caught the advertiser’s attention quickly enough. “Good morning young lady! Here, take a flyer.” the person passed over a heavily inked flyer, shining with resin to prevent water damages. “If you’re looking for a cool dating spot, guys love dinosaurs. Check it out!” Something in the way her eyes caught the light at that moment made them retreat, or the grumble. 

“Really now, Cretaceous Park? That's screaming for a lawsuit at least twice.” she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. ‘And does it LOOK like I’m dating age?!’ she almost thought out loud. “What do you want to do?” she asked, looking back. Yugi seemed interested in the flyer enough to hold it up to the light and examine it.

“Unusual name to call a theme park.” he muttered, passing the flyer to her. 

“I give it 24 hours to have Universal Studios lawyers knocking on the gate for charges of copyright infringement.” Zecora declared. “I am curious though… just how close to the movie it gets…” She saw the brief glint of curiosity in her new friend’s eye. “Dinosaurs are part of our history. I like that T-Rex statue too. Shall we?” Yugi didn’t need to be convinced. He wasn’t familiar with this ‘Universal Studios’, so it piqued his curiosity. “The address is close to the museum too.” With that, she stowed the flyer in her pocket, and the two walked off to see this new park. 

Now that she stopped to think about it… The news of some budding new company buying a ton of land outside the main thoroughfare of the city had come up a few months ago. Over 1000 acres of land, and the first thing built was a massive steel wall. Not even helicopters approached this building, after someone swore a turret on top of the wall shot down his toy drone plane. Someone obviously valued privacy. This steel wall loomed before Zecora and Yugi as they approached, draped in flashy banners with the insignia of a T-Rex skull. Caveish words above a towering gate that resembled something similar to the Golden Gate Bridge read “Cretaceous Park”, with giant doors wide open and beckoning visitors. This wasn’t packed with tourists, but a steadily increasing stream of people seemed to divert to examine this new park. Most of the line diverted to buy tickets and enter the park. 

“Two students” Zecora spoke up before the receptionist. A heavyset man, squinting through his specs at them, held out a pudgy hand. 

“$40.” he declared. Zecora blanched. 

“$40?!”

“Each.” the man enunciated. He pointed at both of them. “$40 each.”

“Look bub, we’re students. Do we look like-” Zecora growled but paused when Yugi simply handed the man a roll of $20s. “What-”

“I believe this covers the cost.” The shorter teen replied. Either his tone or the way the artificial lights gleamed off his eyes must’ve been intimidating because the man did not retort. He counted out 4 $20 bills, handed Yugi back his change, and a pair of tickets.

“Enjoy the park.” he wheezed. Zecora’s eyes flared in his direction as she turned to leave. 

“That was robbery!” she hissed, stalking forward to take a map from the stone situated in the middle of the doorway. “You shouldn’t have just paid him!”

“I do not mind.” he replied coolly, opening the map. It surprised him how large this park appeared, but then again a thousand acres stretched a fair ways. “I never asked you to pay for me.” Zecora pursed her lips in a grimace, but did not retort. “We should investigate the visitors center first.” 

‘Still don’t think he should’ve paid him…’ Zecora grumbled to herself as she followed beside the King of Games. “So uh…” She tried to find a more pleasant term to conversate. “Favorite dinosaur?” Bringing his arms in a thinking position, Yugi considered the question carefully. He’d been so mixed up in magic and cards for a long time… what was his favorite dinosaur? Brief visions of something massive entered his mindscape, grazing the trees above. Big and tall… really tall.

“I liked the brontosaurus.” Yugi answered. “How they ate the tops of the trees and could stand taller than any other… I once wished I was that tall.” Zecora bit back a giggle, the mental image of a 50 foot person walking through NYC appearing in her mind. “Yours?”

“Don’t laugh, but I really am into the carnivores.” This wasn’t the answer Yugi expected. Granted, dinosaurs weren’t exactly a ‘girl interest’. “The velociraptors had my interest at first sight in the movies.” Raptors… raptors… 

“I see.” he muttered, looking thoughtful. Glancing down at the tourist pamphlet, he noticed it mentioned backstage touring of facilities. “How about the backstage tours?” 

“See how the dinosaurs are operated and such?” Zecora asked, puzzled.

“DUDE” She jumped when someone walked behind her, loudly calling out to another through a phone. “DUDE there’s like MASSIVE dinosawz in there. Like so sick brow…” Zecora bristled at him as the rude man passed. 

In the short period of time Yugi spent with this girl, he realized a number of things. 1. She had a short, volatile temper.  2. She disapproved of rudeness or being swindled. 3. She did not typically roll over and accept a choice unless no other choice offered itself. 4. Her socialization of the world hadn’t extended far enough to tolerate being surprised from behind. 5. Her emotions change at the tip of a hat from happy, to angry, to sad, and back again.

It almost made him smile… because she was real. Not an astral projection, nor a glass doll. A real person who acted it around him. 

“Hello… earth to Midget?!” she called out, snapping Yugi out of his reverie, earning herself a quirked brow. 

“Midget, am I?” Her shoulders drooped, embarrassed.

“Erm… uh... “ If someone placed a ruler on her head right now, it would strike him in the forehead. He was not a midget, not anymore. “S...sorry.” 

Zecora trailed behind him as they approached the domed Visitor’s Center, with people splashing themselves in front of the building, nearly removing eyes of others with ‘selfie sticks’ to take pictures of themselves in front of “Isla Newblar’s Visitor Center”. Delicately tapping away a stick from getting itself lodged in his hair, Yugi made his way up the stairs. “Crazy Americans and their addiction of pictures.” 

“Its called a ‘selfie’, take a picture of yourself with something behind you.” Zecora explained. “Usually doable with those AiPhones that are all the rage.” 

“This is plenty.” Yugi showed her the (in tech opinion) vintage Samsung S. About the size of his palm, with the puzzle lock function. “I don’t need the upgrades or ‘fancy addons’.” she nodded, ducking another selfie stick. 

Isla Newblar’s lobby looked so similar to the movie: Rounded skylight, T-Rex skeleton in the middle of the floor, banner stretched across the ceiling “When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth”, dome shaped visitors building. Someone paid attention to details, but upon closer inspection, the T-Rex had half a skeleton in its jaws, and another half underfoot. Looked like half another smaller carnivore. 

“Welcome to Cretaceous Park!” The hologram of an old man with a full head of white hair and a matching short beard. He wore a stark gray suit and held a cane. He could have sold haircare. 

“My name is Hammond, and I welcome you to my park. Please take pictures, videos, and enjoy yourself as you travel back in time to when Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth.” The hologram dissipated, and 30 seconds later reappeared to greet again. 

“The skeleton torn in half gives me the creeps.” Zecora mumbled, glancing up at the regal skeleton, holding her prey skyward in a partial crouch, roaring victory. The builders must’ve really thought the T-Rex was the hero of the dinosaurs in the movie. 

“realism attracts more believers.” Yugi entoned, glancing up at the bones. A part of him grew sad at the sight of bones being displayed in public. “The pamphlet says after the backstage tour, there’s a tour of the park premises.” 

“Maybe we’ll see something really cool. Did you ever see the movies?” 

“I saw the first one.”

“Remember that they were making dinosaurs from mosquitoes…” Zecora trailed off as a horde of people jostled past them, all pushing and shoving to get a view of something. Beyond the mob, a single man walked onto the platform above, something in his hands. It made a shrill cry. 

“Welcome.” the man informed his audience in a deep voice. “There is someone who wishes to meet you.” He opened his palms, and a camera zoomed in. Projected below came a picture of the man,  holding a… scaly baby dinosaur in his hand. Tail gently wrapped around his gloved thumb, two little clawed hands held onto the edges of fingers, the creature peered out, blinking large eyes. It squeaked. The audience started all chattering at once and snapping pictures. “This is Blue.” he told the babbling crowd. “Blue is part of our latest hatching.”

“Hatching…” the word spread quietly. “Wait, that’s not a robot?!” another person yelled out. “Weren’t those dinos just robots?” The man’s eyebrows narrowed. 

“Drawn from mosquitoes, her DNA repaired with frog DNA, Blue is a true survivor of her species.” Blue rested her head on the man’s fingers, following the flashing moving things beneath with her eyes. She paused, eyes locked with Zecora. A chill of excitement ran through the human girl. It did not go unnoticed by the man who held Blue. 

“Young Lady.” The crowd parted when he pointed at Zecora, who froze. Yugi gave her a slight tap on the shoulder, and she jumped. “Would you be willing to prove that I am not holding a robot?” Blanching, she stepped forward. The man made his way down a ramp, an assistant bustling silently up to her. Handed over a pair of gloves, she dawned them, and carefully, the baby became deposited in her hands. Surprisingly warm, her sides rising and falling with each breath, the little dinosaur peered into her eyes again. 

“Holy cow” “Thats a real dino, ain’t it…” Blue squeaked when a crowd started to jostle their way closer. A rising growl… 

“Back off.” The crowd backpedaled a bit, suddenly fearful. Zecora looked away from them, gently stroking Blue’s eye ridge. She crooned at the touch. 

“What species is this?” an eager enthusiast called. 

“Velociraptor.” the man replied proudly. The crowd watched the little raptor loll in Zecora’s gloved hands, relishing in the attention and the touch of her fingers to her eye ridges. 

“Not a robot…” she mumbled. Yugi peered over her shoulder, watching the hatchling. 

“How old is she?” 

“Not quite a few hours old. We here at Cretaceous Park wish for the animals to get human contact as soon as possible, to help control them in the future.” the man replied. 

Blue yawned, showing off her baby teeth. If Zecora wasn’t mistaken… she peered a bit closer at the raptor’s hand… “Raptors have 4 fingers?” 

“Blue is a unique case. Part of the only raptor clutch we have bred to date with the first attempts at opposable thumbs.” The baby’s clawed fingers held tight to her, slightly gripping with this very small thumb. 

“Do we get to pet the baby dinosaur?” a couple shouted. The man paused. 

“I’m afraid Blue only has enough energy to see the public and interact with one person a day. However, if you come back later, another species may have hatched. If I may…” It took everything in Zecora’s willpower to hand the baby raptor back to the man. Blue creeled at the changing of handling, “Say Goodbye Blue” the crowd bade goodbye to Blue, and he walked back up the ramp to a Sliding door and vanished. 

Yugi watched the man leave with Blue. “Glad we came?” he asked. A vague nod, Zecora allowed herself to be steered to the MR. DNA ride. 

~

Blue creeled at the sounds of her hatchmates, struggling to loose herself from her handler’s grip. Finally, the door powered open, and she was allowed down, in which the baby raptor stumbled off into the brush. The handler watched her go, shut the door, and found himself face to face with the raptor’s ‘alpha’. 

“Blue behaved herself very well for the visitors.” he informed the alpha. “A child held her.” 

“You don’t believe just how lethal raptors can be, do you.” the alpha answered harshly. “My raptors aren’t going to be ‘petting zoo’ tameness, like you think they can be.” As if on cue, a shrieking snarl as the older raptors ran past in the opposite paddock. 

~

A throbbing headache dragged Akira into the world again. Carefully, he drew his hands closer… unnoticing they weren’t tied. Massaging his temple, a generous bruise likely was there. Tender and sore. One eye cracked open slowly… He lay in a darkened room, warm and comfortable. It wasn’t a bed though… rather bumpy for a bed. 

“Thought you were gonna be another one of Keith’s victims….” a voice came from the darkness. “Lex told me you probably had a concussion.” Sounded to be a young male… Shifting a bit, Akira winced with the throbbing in his head. The other approached, blurred and a bit wobbly. “Don’t move around too much. I’ll help you. Up…” The stranger eased him into a sitting position, pillowing his head with a jacket. “Better?” a gradual nod. “Good.” His face swam into view. Rugged and good natured, with defining jaw and cheekbones. Younger than him, but not by much? Reminded him of an actor he had seen in a movie… Which, he couldn’t recall. The other offered him a water bottle, in which he took several deep gulps. 

“Grandpa asked us to make sure you got back to your tour group, Lex and I.” the boy told the groggy Akira leaning against the wall. He didn’t reply, but watched. The boy gestured at another, her face illuminated by a laptop screen. Over his throbbing head, Akira heard the rapid keystrokes and clicking. “I’m Tim, that’s Lex, my sister.” Lex did not answer, only clicked and clacked more. Tim sat back, gathering something close. 

“Where am I” the croaky sound of his voice surprised Akira briefly. How long had he been out? 

“It’s a spot in the museum, used for storage when needed.” Tim answered. “My question is… why were you crawling around in the pipes?” A sharp hissing ‘shh’ came from the corner. “If  you wanted a ticket to the park, there is a main entrance-Ow.” A small pebble hit him on the cheek. He could see his sister’s eyes reflected mutinously, gesturing for him to ‘zip it’. 

“I was told… to find out what… the museum… was doing.” he breathed, wincing if he spoke too loudly. 

“Mmm… Sorry, but I looked at your phone. Tried to figure out if you had a place nearby.” Tim placed his phone back in his hands. “Really advanced looking, is it a new model? Lex claims its foreign.” At glance, she nodded, hunched in the ‘hacker’s hunch’. “You hungry? Thirsty? The cafeteria’s nearby and their snacks aren’t bad.” 

“head hurts…” 

“I think the gift shop carries pain meds, I’ll go check.” Tim shifted whatever was around him so they folded around Akira instead. “Just keep em warm, I’ll be back.” he sprinted away after checking the coast was clear. 

Lex paused in her programming to glance at their charge. He leaned there, eyes half open and rather dazed. Their charges folded around him to leech off his high body heat. 

“Why…” She looked at him again, his head had turned and looked at her. The bruise shadowed one eye. “Why am I not dead?” 

“Grandpa stopped Keith in time.” she whispered. “You were not in good shape, but still alive.” She watched his reaction… but nothing. “Grandpa’s staff is taking precautions, there is to be no blood spilled in the compound. They…” she shuddered. “They can smell it…” His eyes trailed down to the rounded things surrounding him. Two and two put themselves together…

“Eggs”

“Yes” she breathed, still so quiet he could barely hear. “Live, fertile dinosaur eggs. The Park is opening next week to the public.” So that’s why… “We can’t have any incidents before the park is endorsed to open…” She seemed fearful. “Not like last time…” 

Akira’s knowledge of movies held fast, no matter how many memory issues he had suffered. The dinosaur park movie rewound itself in his mind, briefly fleeting upon a terrified girl fleeing raptors in a kitchen… “You were there. That was you…” he asked quietly. She nodded, running a slim, long fingered hand over the eggs at her side. “Why are you around them, if they tried to eat you…” 

“This is Grandpa’s legacy, his passion. His life’s work. His successor scouted Tim and I when we were old enough to work, and… they wanted to actually finish the project.” She could see his eyes narrow in concentration, or deep thought. 

“I understand...why they wanted to investigate here now…” he muttered. She stared at him, and finally the bruised boy smiled at her. 

“Who” she asked, eyes narrowed in the reflection of her laptop’s screen

“Seçayo” he muttered. “I look into things… like a detective.” Not quite a lie, but not quite the truth. The truth got others hurt, or killed. “They wanted me to investigate the museum… but I never guessed…. it was connected like this.” A sigh.. how complicated.

“The museum granted use of their labs for a ‘generous’ donation.” Lex mentioned. So they had been literally bribed. “And the company pays generously for the amber fossils, for that’s the source… of making dinosaurs.” 

“Why tell me this” he asked slowly. She could tell he was gaining his wits back, the pauses in his sentences were lessening. “What do you stand to gain from telling me”

“I’m back!” Tim opened the door loudly at that second, effectively shutting his sister up for no further conversation. “You look a bit better. How’s your head?” he asked. 

“Sore.” Akira answered him truthfully. Tim nodded, passing over a granola bar, a water bottle, and a pair of aspirin.

“Bought the whole bottle, just in case.” Nodding, his charge took the medication, drank water and finished off the granola bar. He lifted one of the eggs into his lap to examine it further. 

“What breed?” he asked. Tim froze, glancing at his sister, who paid distinct attention at her program. 

“Uh… I don’t… I think apatosaurus, off the top of my head.” he grinned with embarrassment. “I don’t recall actually, we’re not told, just asked to keep them warm.” 

“Why not use incubators?” 

“Some of the eggs are too sensitive to higher heats, so we’re charged with keeping em warm instead.” He sat on the floor, and stuffed an egg under his shirt. “tada” He could almost hear his sister shaking her head at his clownish behavior. It drew a smile out of the boy though, who mimed him and put two eggs under his shirt, keeping them close to his skin. 

“They’ll hatch eventually though.” 

“We don’t deal with the babies, we’re not ‘old enough’.” Tim’s tone sounded bitter. When he handed Akira the egg he had been babying, he opened his palms briefly. By now, his vision adjusted to the dim light levels. White scars lined his palms. “Old enough, my ass. I outran a T-Rex and raptors for crying out loud, and I was fried by that damn fence.” he muttered. He remembered that scene; the young boy climbing up the fence and being fried right off it. He lived, but he spent the rest of the film with rags around his palms. 

“I figured those would scar.” he pointed out. Tim paused, then looked at Lex. 

“Does he... “ she nodded absently. To his surprise, Tim smiled. “Well good. I hated beating around the bush like that.” He leaned back, arms supporting him from behind. “So, we’re living breathing proof that dinosaurs exist, and are not truly controllable.” he declared. 

“Most of the world believes those were robots.” 

“Oh, they were. The MOVIE dinosaurs were.” He grinned. Mission complete: someone’s mind blown. 

“What do you do for this company?” Akira asked, shifting so he could sit straighter. The slouching to keep his head straight was making his lower back sore. 

“We’re classified as ‘student interns’ of InGen.” Lex finally replied, still quieter than her brother. “We’ve been helping with the ‘theme park’ idea of Cretaceous behind the scenes. What better to design a park than with the help of a target audience.” Tim nodded eagerly. “We’re not college grads yet, at least Tim isn’t.” That surprised Akira. She hadn’t moved, so he could barely make out how old these two were. “I recognize you… you were from the tech school in the city.” 

“I take a few classes there part time, but I’m almost done with high school.” 

“You’re young, for a detective.” Lex muttered. 

“Sis helps InGen with their computer systems; half their staff are idiots with Windows Zeta. Her major is computer programming.” aha. “I’m usually running messages, and fixing mechanical problems. I study engineering and welding.” 

“Why are we in a dark room?” Akira asked. The flow of information certainly kept his interest. 

“Eggs are usually kept under bright lights, right?”

“Sis said that if you woke up in a bright room, your headache would be much worse, so I kept the lights off.” Tim explained. “Can I turn em on now?” 

“A bit, my head feels better, but the light might hurt.” Slowly, the room brightened. He was surrounded by give or take a dozen eggs. The siblings wore khakis and collared white polos with InGen sewn on the sleeve. Lex had her blonde hair gathered into a messy bun at the crown of her head, bangs hanging in her face. Tim’s hair was russet brown, standing a bit on end, with a bit of curl. Both of them had blue eyes, and seemed to be in relatively good shape. Akira swallowed; Lex was actually quite pretty, despite her plain attire. “Much better.” he finally could see. Uncovering the eggs, he lifted one to the light. It was heavy, for being about the size of a watermelon, mushroom colored and pebbly textured. 

“So, what’s your name?” How could he have forgotten…

“Akira. Takizawa Akira.” he answered. 

“So you’re foreign?”

“Japanese. I’m studying abroad here in America.” 

“Cool! Your people make the best monster movies!” Tim looked excited. Lex rolled her eyes a bit. 

“We should be getting you back to your group…” she muttered to the program more than to the boys.

“Yeah…” Tim checked his leather wristwatch. “Jeez, its after 6 already!” he cried out. “Your group probably left already…” Tim looked despaired. Akira smiled, reaching out and clapping his shoulder. 

“I can take care of myself.” he told the boy. “Don’t worry.” He handed the eggs slowly over, and Tim handed them to Lex, who spread her coat over them to keep them warm. It took the wall and Tim on his other side to help Akira stand, gripping hard to regain his balance. 

“Take it easy, I’ve gotcha.” nodding, he slowly took a few steps, almost pitching onto his face twice. His sore ankle twinged, as well as his diaphragm. He couldn’t not walk out of here though… this was information that held his two lives apart. That thought renewed his determination to walk out of here unhindered. 

Regardless, it took the better part of an hour to get Akira out of the dark room and out onto the steps of the Smithsonian’s Natural History building. He sank down onto the steps, breathing hard with exertion. Tim seemed rather tired himself. Not the first time he had to help haul someone taller than himself from point A to point B, but he tried hard to at least serve as a crutch for his new friend. He glanced around for guards, than placed something in Akira’s grip. It was an egg. Putting a finger to his mouth, he whispered in Akira’s ear. 

“I dunno what you discussed with Lex, but she wants you to take an egg. She’s usually so adamant about following the rules, but you won’t go selling it, right?” Akira shook his head no. “Good.” He gave a folded piece of paper to him, and his phone, and the aspirin. “Take care, Taki.” he waved, and ducked back inside. 

The note was two. An e-mail, and a phone number. “If you need more info, email us.” A scrawl, and ‘no texting, no signal inside’. Well, there went that idea. With a sigh, Akira found his bike parked on the side of the building, and drove his way home. Wrapping the egg in his jacket, he took it to beside his pillow, crashing out on the old mattress. He was so tired by now, it would be easy to fall asleep. He would sleep long enough for some lifelong occurrences to happen.


	6. The Alpha Rider

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wrapping up my 'prologue' of two days. Yugi and Zecora meet the 'alpha rider'.

The Alpha Rider

 

Around him, Yugi could hear the crowd grumbling on ‘false advertising’ and ‘overcharging for a sneak peek’ as people made their way out of the visitors center. Honestly, he agreed with them. $80 for a sneak peek of the park to open next week. Another staff member set blocked them from the MR DNA tour, declaring that this was only a sneak peek and they were to leave immediately. Divvying out the cheap plastic bracelets, and leaving as quickly as possible. Beside him, the wild haired Zecora acted deep in thought. Occasionally having to drag her out of the way of some other people walking past in irritation. That was the difficulty of going out to do fun things with others; what do you do when they stop having fun? She appeared so deep in thought the fun had worn off. The jerking movement paused her thought process though, and she looked at him. Where to start, he wondered. The words refused to come completely. 

“Do you…” “I think…” “Are you…” Bah, half formed sentences made this much more difficult. A pause, a frown, than…

“Let’s go see Air and Space.” she offered. “Sorry for dragging you off course.” 

‘Thank you’ he thought as they started back down the trodden path. 

VROOM VROOM Only quick reflexes tossing an arm out and Zecora running into the arm instead of over by the motorcycle that screamed right in front of them. That wasn’t all though. Rustling in the bushes, and 3 long tailed reptiles sped past them, hot on the motorcycle’s trail. 

“Were those…” Zecora pointed out, her voice trailing away. Expelling the breath he had caught, Yugi straightened up, dusting his jeans and looking past into the path of the vegetation. 

“Either that, or very good animatronics.” he replied. It didn’t take long for the motorcycle to come back around, but this time the racing beasts did not pursue it as quickly into the vegetation. The three, now figured as dinosaurs, surrounded Yugi and Zecora. Something darted out of the vegetation than, in front of them. 

“Hold it!” the masked rider shouted. Slowly, the helmet came away, tossed into the grass. The dinosaur’s heads briefly followed the round object but focused on the newcomer. Pacing around them, hissing and snarling. “Chief… no. Delta, Echo…” the rider held both hands out in front of them, shielding Yugi and Zecora. “Leave em.” A taller creature snapped angrily, the quills on his head shaking briefly. “What did I just say!” The quilled dinosaur paced past them, eyeing the two.

“Get down, they’re challenging you.” the rider hissed. 

“What…” ‘Those are raptors… real godforsaken velociraptors…’ 

“Good…” the rider praised, still shielding them. “Chief… Echo… good. Eyes on me…” The aformentioned ‘Delta’ had mottled scaling, fierce orange yellow eyes regarding Zecora. Bowing her head, Delta started to sniff the human’s vibrant heads. She pulled back briefly, snarling. “Delta! What did I just say!” the rider snapped. Delta crouched at him, hissing. Slowly, Zecora drew the gloves she had held Blue with… placing them in front of her. Yugi could feel her shaking a bit. “Leave em!” the rider caught the gloves quickly, shepherding the raptors backwards. Chief and Echo backed away, but Delta squawk/hissed in protest, snapping her jaws. “Stand down!” The three reluctantly backed up, so the rider could see them without having to turn his head. Sounded like a he. “Eyes on me.” 

-

Later, inside a rather dusty machine shop, the rider passed out bottled waters and took a seat. 

“That was incredible.” Yugi found his voice first. “How did they listen to you like that.” The rider turned finally to look at his pack’s ‘almost lunch’. Wild spiked navy/black hair with a splash of blonde (if you look at him from the side, it looked like he sported spiny frills), he boasted a neon yellow tattoo down one eye and cheek. Dressed in similar fashion to Yugi, his navy jacket showed a red shirt, with patched jeans and work boots, finishing off with long leather gloves. 

“I’ve been with them since they hatched. They trust me, know I’m the one who gives orders.” He sounded almost weary. “Your friend’s gloves… why does she have gloves in her pockets?” 

“I was given them to hold the baby raptor at the visitor’s center.” Sharp blue eyes glared at her. This man reminded Yugi distinctly of a wild creature himself. 

“You were the one who held Blue?” he asked, cautiously. At her nod, his tense shoulders relaxed. “Now I get it. Delta smelled Blue’s scent on you as we were passing. Egg thieves are killed quickly in the wild.” So the raptor who smelled them thought Zecora a thief? 

“She thought I had, yes.” Zecora answered. “She did not like I had the smell of raptor on me.” The rider’s eyebrows raised. “Wouldn’t stand for a stranger challenging the alpha.” 

“Interesting. Guess you figured I was the alpha than.” Zecora paid great attention to her clenched hands in her lap, a bit pink in the face, nodding. “Now you” he paid attention to Yugi instead “You look familiar. Who are you?” 

“Yugi Moto.” the King of Games answered truthfully. The rider smiled. 

“Well Mr. Moto, my apologies for my pack nearly making a meal of you.” He cracked the water bottle open, taking a deep swig. “Had me worried when they turned around on me like that.”

“Why were they chasing you?” 

“Not chasing, racing. They’ve never been outside the paddock before, and will follow me on my bike. The boss thinks that ‘raptor racing’ might make an attraction.” The way the dirty old lamp above them caught his eyes, they gleamed angrily. “They’re not for sport.” he muttered. 

“Do you handle the hatchlings as well?” 

“Yes. I was present for Blue’s hatching as well. She’s a spitfire, from day one.” He took another swig of water and sighed. 

“We… never caught your name?” 

“Reiryu, but people call me Rey.” he answered. Zecora watched him carefully. 

“That means dragon spirit.” she muttered. 

“You know your Japanese, young lady.” Rey nodded in approval. “It’s not solely fan based, is it?” Zecora flushed, shaking her head irritatedly no.

“I chose Japanese and German as my languages for school.” she replied icily. 

“Don’t get upset now, I just asked.” Rey waved his hand offhandedly. “I’m not from here, and a lot of Japanese that I hear from kids your age is badly translated and half wrong.” 

“What brought you to Cretaceous Park than?” 

“I was hired as an engineer to keep the fences in working order, but I’m more in tune with machines and cards on motorcycles.” He could almost see the cogs going haywire in Yugi’s head as he tried to wrap his mind around the concept. “I kid, I kid. Mostly machines and keeping my bike in good shape.” Somehow, Yugi doubted this Rey was kidding about ‘cards on motorcycles’. 

“Thank you for helping us.” Zecora finally spoke up again. “The raptors are… breathtaking.” Rey smiled. 

“Yeah, and unfortunately no people are able to get near them without being eaten other than me. You can’t domesticate wild animals completely. They have their free will.” 

Rey bade them goodbye at the gates as the park closed until opening day next week. By now, the sun nearly was at midpoint. Zecora would finally drag Yugi off to Air and Space Museum at last. 

~

UNUSUAL CHOICES.

**WHAT** ?

IN YOUR HUMAN SPIES. 

**CONSIDERING YOUR CHOICES…**

YES YES, DON’T INTERRUPT. I SAID UNUSUAL CHOICES IN YOUR HUMAN SPIES.

**GETTING SOMEWHERE WITH THIS?**

YES. THE COUNCIL MEETS SOON. TO DISCUSS EARTH.

**…**

DON’T BE LATE.

**THIS IS MY ONLY CHANCE… DON’T FAIL ME.**

_ *CREEPY PORTAL NOISES* _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jurassic World's velociraptors following Owen's motorcycle was one of my favorite scenes. Don't you think Yusei makes a good Owen?


	7. THE ACTUAL CHAPTER 1: Arrival of the Messenger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally getting into the actual 'plot', Yugi and Zecora get to visit Air and Space at last, and run into two VERY familiar faces.

Arrival Of the Messenger

 

Deja vu hits hard, don’t it. For Dartz, it did. Painfully hard. One minute he was enjoying a leisurely afterlife with his family, and next, he’s standing in the middle of NYC. A slight gripping pain around one wrist, as people jostled past him. 

He had one mission; find a specific person in this melting pot of a city and deliver a message. Utmost importance and secrecy. And he couldn’t leave this crazy world until it was done and over with. 

‘Thank the gods I’m at least blending in-’ he thought, only to be interrupted when someone stepped painfully hard on his braid. That soon to be dead someone. Hissing in pain, he massaged his head and glowered, pulling his braid up a bit to tie it in half. No more people treading on it. 

“Excuse me” he tapped a man on the shoulder. “I’m looking for” the man shoved roughly away, barking angrily in a language Dartz had no idea what he said. Something a hint to old Latin… All these people… were talking that way. This… was going to take a while.

-

Cairo’s foot traffic differed greatly from America. Less busy bodies bustling around in a hurry. Ishizu preferred the Cairo foot traffic, but automobiles were definitely helpful, to a point. However, they smelled terrible and seemed more dangerous than not. 

The Egyptian Board of Antiquities sent her to America not two weeks ago, looking to re-procure more of the artifacts and relics on display in America. 

Today, she traveled away from her tiny office outside the museum to get fresh air on her lunch break. Granted, she was used to dark tunnels and limited elbow space, but she preferred the fresh air. 

On her way back from the local grocer with a cold salad in hand, Ishizu noticed an odd scene. A tall man with an outrageous hair color (he stood out worse than a mime), walking up to everyone who passed, speaking a familiar language. No one understood, and kept shoving aside. As she drew gradually closer, the man’s hair appeared to be doubling in length as the braid slowly unraveled a bit, making him look crazier by the second. When he wheeled around, she could see the telltale signs of stress and strain. 

“Ξέρετε πού μπορώ να βρώ” he babbled but someone shoved past him harder than expected. The man stumbled into Ishizu, almost knocking her over. “Ouch. Συγνώμη” he scrambled back from her, only to tread on his mane again. 

“Who ψάχνετε?” she asked him. Pausing, the man looked at her in surprise. 

“Μιλάτε τη γλώσσα μου;” she nodded. 

“Come with me.” she offered her hand, and finally escorted the harassed man back to her office. People stared at his crazy hair. 

“Do you speak Arabic?” she asked him once they reached the stairs. He paused. 

“A… bit.” 

“That will make this simpler.” she explained, unlocking the door to a tiny study with sitting room. “Please, sit.” The man sat down obediently on the couch in the sitting room, looking about. Plain and sparsely furnished, but one wall lined with shelves and cubbyholes of scrolls, books, and parchment slices. Ishizu put her lunch on the desk, observing her guest from the corner of her eye. Obviously foreign, with sharp clever gold eyes and aqua hair. He wore a flamboyant lavender business suit, but other than the dirt stains on the knees he seemed very dapper. 

“I do not believe I have heard any Americans speaking Greek lately.” She mentioned, half concealed in the offshoot that could be called a tiny kitchen, with a sink, a mini fridge and an electric one burner stove. The clatter of a metal pot, filling with water. “No one could understand you.” 

Dartz sighed, running his fingers through his bangs briefly. This woman’s statement made sense, nobody understood his native language. And the last time anyone DID understand him, he used the influence of the Orichalcos. “My English is… bad.” he told his knees. A soft chuckle from out of his vision. 

“Do not worry. It is difficult to… understand them when you first arrive. I have to thank my brothers. They picked up English faster than I did” The effort of managing a worldwide black market… did have its perks. 

“I did not ask your name.” 

“Dr. Ishizu Ishtar.” she replied, peering around the corner, still messing with the teapot. She could hear half started sentences for the next couple of minutes, as though the man could not figure out how to speak properly again. His hands reached up towards his scalp, wide eyed and looking a bit frightened. He would notice his behavior and force his hands down, but not a minute later it would repeat. Slowly the tips of his long fingers were beginning to turn red. She couldn’t seem to figure out how to calm the poor man. The longer he sat there, wringing his fingers through his hair, he seemed to stress himself out more. 

Finally, Ishizu brought out the tea tray, laden with two mugs, raw sugar, a jar of honey, a trio of small spoons, and a rustic teapot of steaming hot water. She set the table in front of him, preparing the default tea quietly. “Drink this, it will help.” she pointed out the mug before her. An herbal scent permeated the air. She took a delicate sip when his hand didn’t move to the mug. “I have no reason to poison you.” Taking that as a good point, he carefully picked up the mug, blew carefully across the rim, and took a deep swig of tea. When he offered the mug for more, she could see that the choice of tea had an effect. He seemed more relaxed. Calmer. 

“Thank you. I forgot myself for a bit.” he muttered to his tea. “I’m delivering a message to someone I know, and it’s important. I can’t leave until he receives this message.” Dark, almond shaped eyes watched him as he spoke. “It’s just for him to know.” 

“I didn’t assume people thought ‘nosy’ when speaking to me.” her tone and words were civil, but the ice had been there. Now he was in trouble. “Before I inquire further, who are you.” 

“I am but a humble gentleman. Lost from my homeland, I seek to inquire important matters with one who I have been in past acquaintance. Nothing more, nothing less.” 

“Fascinating tale.” Ishizu poured herself a second mug of tea. “There are flaws. You are no mere ‘gentleman’. Men in this city do not typically jump and curse at passing vehicles as if they are demons in metal armors. Even Greece in this day and age has automobiles. I have yet to meet a man who wears his hair to the floor. Greek royals wore their hair long, and there has not been a royal on the throne for centuries. Judging by how you are dressed, you might be an entrepreneur or a company CEO.” She leaned forward slightly, resting elbows on her desk once she took a seat opposite him, lacing long fingers together to rest her chin. “Care to try again?” He froze briefly, considering options. 

“I am a purveyor of fine antiquities, looking to make contact with a long-known client. We have a deal to discuss, and it is confidential for the sake of my client’s privacy.” This didn’t seem to phase her calmness at all. 

“You carry no briefcase, no mobile devices, and unless it’s been sent ahead through e-mail” his puzzled blinking look sealed the fate of this tale “you are not as you claim. Once more.” Dartz frowned. How was she so keen. “You are puzzled when I mentioned e-mail, a notable hands-free communication.” Ishizu picked up her mug and took a sip. Comparatively, he was out of ideas, and had only one choice. 

“I’m a displaced king in search of the one who has previously saved the world from the Great Leviathan. The message is of dire importance. I cannot leave until it is delivered, post haste. My name is Dartz.” The mug clicked quietly onto the desk. 

“I do know who you seek, Mr. Dartz.” she replied. “He is out of contact. I can get in contact with his closest friend, if that’s an acceptable replacement.” The mussed locks seemed to wilt at the mention of being out of contact. Dartz’s free hand balled into a fist in frustration. Would this be acceptable? Several minutes passed in silence, and he nodded. Ishizu nodded in return, stood, and left the room. Supposedly to make a call. 

~

“Yes yes, THANK YOU. We’re leaving now!” Zecora called loudly as she towed Yugi out the doors of Air and Space. They had the most unfortunate luck (in her opinion) to encounter the chattiest docent yet. She would not shut up about Amelia Earhart and her amazing feats, repeatedly getting distracted through the tour and towing them back to the exhibit of the wax replica and her biplane. 

“It was an interesting talk though.” Yugi mused, closing the thick brochure that had been handed to him. “A staple of women in American History.” He wasn’t the most prominent buff of American History, he was a tourist. “I had no idea there was humble roots for rocketry here.” 

“A movie was made about it. October Sky. If you get a chance to find it with Japanese subs, you should watch it. It’s a bit of a tear jerker though.” She thought for a moment. “Have you seen National Treasure?” 

“I have not. Another movie?” Zecora nodded eagerly. And she was off, rambling on about Nicholas Cage and his motley crew of treasure hunters tracking down vague clues and puzzles through a cryptic code off the back of the Declaration of Independence that led to a vast amount of treasure. Clearly she appeared to be a fan of this movie, or the actor. “I don’t care what the critics say. Its one of the best movies for a history buff like me.” 

Before Yugi could finish forming his own reply, his phone rang. It spared him, and the tone wasn’t customized, so none of his friends were seeking him… were they?

“Hello?”

“It turns out Joseph’s information was correct about your phone number. Hello Yugi, I believe this is the first time we’ve spoken over the phone.” The familiar voice came smooth and sharp over the line. “My name is Ishizu Ishtar, do you remember me?” 

“I do.”

“I hear you’re touring near the Intrepid today. This is fortunate, I wish to speak with you. Come to my office.” she rattled off the address and added “you may bring your friends if you wish.” and hung up. Zecora peered around him curiously, watching his face for hidden emotion. “That’s here.” she pointed out on the map, suddenly in her hands. “Is she a friend?”

“An acquaintance, yes. Why did she call Joey to get my number…” he didn’t stay on this thought for long. “Which way?” She led him off to the office in question. 

It was small, tiny even. “Mm, not exactly the luxury suite size, huh.” Zecora wondered just who worked here as Yugi knocked smartly on the door. It opened, and the elder Ishtar opened the door. 

“Prompt, you must have been closer than I realized. Please, come in.” She stood aside for them to shuffle inside. “You may enter miss.” she allowed Zecora in as well. 

“It’s kinda snug. Can we all fit in here?” Zecora wondered aloud as she bumped elbows when entering. She smiled a bit at Ishizu, who only remained impassive. 

“It is a small study, but it suits my work.”

“You’re working here in America now.” It wasn’t a question. “I saw Marik and Odion in the Two Headed Giant tournament earlier this week.” Ishizu nodded. 

“Yes, I am working for the Smithsonian, from the The Egyptian Board of Antiquities. A temporary position, the Board seeks to bring more artifacts home.” Yugi nodded in understanding. “My brothers are in the tournament. They haven’t told me of their rankings, but knowing them…”

“How did you get Joey’s number to call me?” 

“Your original mobile listing given to me some time ago went to his number.” Ah, right. 

“Yes, Joey broke his old phone not long ago and I received a new one for a gift, so he got my old number along with the phone.” He forgot that. No wonder his phone was so quiet. 

“Hate to break into this but who’s this?” Zecora piped up beside him. 

“This is Ishizu Ishtar. She’s an acquaintance and the best Egyptology reference I know.” Handshakes were divided out. 

“You flatter me, Pharoah. You’ve grown since last I saw you. The hairstyle is different as well. I’ll get to the point, I appear to have interrupted your date. Someone is here to see you, and asked me to get hold of you. This way.” She led them into the larger room, and found Dartz pouring himself another mug of tea. The atmosphere grew dense and heavy than. 

He started to speak, but realized those amethysts weren’t the hardened garnets of a lost king, but the vassal. 

“Dartz.” The way Yugi spoke his name mentions volumes of his dislike for the man. “What do you want.” 

“I’m sorry for what I did.” The Atlantean king replied, bowing his head in shame. “I cannot change the past, nor can I change your suffering, but I have a message for the Pharaoh. It is of utmost-” His sharp clever eyes noticed one huge distinct change of the vassal child… and it wasn’t a good one. “You no longer have the puzzle…” 

“Why would he have spoken to you in the first place. Haven’t you caused enough damage. What would be so important that you would haunt us again?” His tone seemed to raise along with his temper. “No, I no longer possess the Puzzle. How observant of you. Even if I did, I wouldn’t let you speak to him. Not after what he endured afterwards.” 

“Ok ok, can someone explain to me what’s going on?” Zecora put herself between them suddenly, unwilling to listen any further without information. “Who’s this, why don’t you like each other and WHEN THE HELL DID YOU LOSE YOUR PUZZLE?!” How had she not seen that?! The puzzle was this freakin’ hunk of gold hanging off his neck most of the time! Yugi’s gaze lingered on her, bordering on flashfire angry. But he had expected this to happen, inside his mind. 

“Forgive me young lady. My name is Dartz.” She only stared at him blankly. “Dartz.” he pointed at himself, and she finally understood. Not a Greek speaker either. 

“He is a fluent speaker of Greek, and has little English I’m afraid.” Ishizu replied, having rounded the room to sit at her desk. “Dartz is looking for the Pharaoh, and has a message for him. Unfortunately, there is… past bad blood between Yugi, his friends and Dartz’s company.” Bad blood… she looked from his angry face to Dartz’s stressed and saddened expression. “As for the Puzzle… it’s been a number of years since he has parted with the Puzzle.”

“No wonder I didn’t recognize you right off…” Zecora sighed a bit, and backed off. “I’m sorry you lost your puzz-”

“I didn’t lose it.” he interrupted her, and there was so much bitterness in his words that she didn’t finish, letting the sentence die halfway. “Dartz. You don’t realize how many nightmares he endured after Paradias broke apart. How often I remember waking up for hearing screams of terror inside my head. The aftereffects of your damned Orichalcos spellwork. And now you think you can waltz back into the world of the living, act like nothing is wrong and demand to see him after you did all that?!”

“I have demanded nothing. Dr Ishtar called you of her own accord, I did not ask to be put in contact with you.” the old king replied, his own eyes harder, but no green sheen of madness. “I am not here by choice, child. The message is utmost importance. Let me speak to the Pharaoh. Please.” His words held a pleading tone. “I want to go home. This is not my land.” 

“Lonely? Think about being locked up inside the belly of the Leviathan. Trapped in your own magic bubble and watching your friends and enemies alike being swallowed up. Think about being trapped inside a hunk of jewelry for 5000 years, and ripped apart from the one thing you knew to be concrete, forced to endure the real world, its problems, and how much pain and sorrow came with it.” All the frustrations he had been storing up lately were coming out in very harsh words now. “Of carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders, and suddenly it’s no longer there.” The underlying words seemed to finally get through to Dartz than. There wasn’t a way to contact the Pharaoh now. He was gone. And his vassal had hardened. The once innocent child of bearing such an important weight of saving the world more times than able to count now a hardened adult with no forgiveness in his heart. Nothing of kindness. 

“I deserve your anger, and I do not look for your forgiveness.” Dartz told him, holding eye contact. “It is imp-” He froze, and the mug of tea dropped from his hand, cracking in half and spilling liquid onto the table. His eyes had gone glassy and pale yellow-white, like a malnourished egg. 

**That is enough talk, the point is reached. Child.** He pointed at Yugi with shaking fingers.  **The gods are displeased. Man has played with life. There will be consequences. Dire consequences. The Council meets soon to discuss the fate of Earth. Nothing can be done about it.** Dartz’s voice echoed through the small study, so very thick and powerful that it was causing the man to bleed from the eyes. Whatever was possessing him had no qualms of hurting others to get things done.  **Do not further the doom of Earth, world saver.** Whatever was here, whatever was talking, left, and threw its voice to the floor, where he knelt, shaking, and suddenly semi-transparent. 

“What-” 

“You are not the same young boy sealed long ago…” Dartz mumbled, looking up at them. “Your heart has changed over time. I’m sorry… that you no longer have forgiveness…” and before their eyes, he disappeared, only the split mug to remind that a ghost had once been here, slightly corporeal. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dartz speaks primarily Greek when not under the influence of Orichalcos in my story world, so once you reach *a bit*, Ishizu and Dartz are speaking Arabic. Yugi knows 'a bit' of Greek/Arabic, but not much. Chalk it up to years of being literally saturated in magic.


End file.
